When Wolves Howl
by shenayeelizabeth
Summary: Romilly did not expect this to happen - fighting for her life (almost all the time because Scott and Stiles seem to have danger follow them) and falling in love (with a broody, detached wolf who doesn't need that). Yeah, she's handling it. {Derek/OC}
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm going to kill Allegra,**_ she thought to herself as she tripped over another tree root that was large and above the ground. She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she rested her hand on the tree beside her. Bianca had decided to leave the house and not telling anyone where she was going, their mum had thought it was because she was starting a new school. Romilly thought it was because Allegra just liked to escape sometimes, she felt connected to the forest and sometimes the idiot would slip out without telling anyone.

She held her phone up, her hand curled tightly around it as she slowly moved through the forest. Despite the forest being quiet, her heart still pounded inside her chest, it was terrifying her. She dug her finger nails into the tree beside her and closed her eyes briefly. It was late; most likely Allegra had headed home. She turned and let out a squeal that she was sure she had released as a child. She laughed when she realised it was just an oddly shaped tree and her hand flew to her chest.

It was comforting, being in the forest alone. She was incredibly smart, using logic to explain the most basic of things. Due to this she had subpar social skills; the only person who really understood was her younger sister who she needed to make sure had gotten home safely. She opened her messages on her phone and scowled when she noticed a message from her mum.

 _Leg's home, where are you Milly?_

Groaning, she leaned back against the tree. She didn't know where she had come from, she turned back to look at the place she had come from but everything looked similar. It was not a comforting feeling, she also felt as if something was watching her. She froze her heart racing as she turned her head. Except there was nothing, she took a deep breath and held her phone up, trying to see if she had left any tracks behind in the dirt.

She held her phone down to the ground, examining the dirt and leaves for a footprint. She kept her attention on the ground and froze when her foot touched something. She looked up slowly and let out a scream, a scream that could wake the dead. And there was a dead person, literally in front of her. Or at least, _half_ a dead person. She fumbled for her phone, trying to think logical but she could only describe the shock seeping in as a malfunction, she was malfunctioning.

" _911 what's your emergency?_ " The operator's voice was like any others on a movie, it felt like a movie to her. Was this even real? She wondered as she pondered how to explain to the person on the other end that she had found a dead body in the forest.

So she explained, coolly and calmly, but inside something was threatening to release in a scream of fear. Her heart thundered and her eyes began to water, she felt uncomfortable as the police told her to stay calm. She heard a growl and turned her head, a scream erupting from her throat as something launched itself at her. She was shoved to the ground beside the body, pressed by a heavy weight as something bit into her shoulder.

It felt as if an out of body experience, as if she was not feeling it but she knew it was happening. She did not feel pain, only terror she could not explain. The heavy feeling on her back did not leave; it continued to weight her down as her eyes began to grow heavy. Pain began to spread across her shoulder and down her back, her mouth was still open and her scream was beginning to cut off, to become something more broken as she blacked out.

* * *

Silence, there was no sound… no movement. Was this death? She wondered, as her eyes flew open and she stared up at a ceiling that was falling to pieces. She frowned, turning her head as she felt an ache in her shoulder. She slowly pushed herself up, her dark brown curls falling to her waist as she sat up. She looked down and frowned, she was dressed in a large black shirt and her bra had been removed. However it was strange, this was no hospital.

Grimacing, her shoulder ached a little but it was nothing compared to her confusion. She stood slowly, in shaky legs as she looked around the room that smelled strange… like stale ash. Curling her nose she turned and stumbled out of the open doorway, gripping the wood tightly as she stared at the hallway. Some of it was ruined, ash covering the walls. Her eyebrows rose, weird. She moved further down the hallway and came to a staircase. At the end of the stair case a front door opened and she wrapped her hands tightly around the railing.

"You're awake," the person who walked through the door grunted. Her hands shook, a man… a male. Why had she been taken by a male? Had he attacked her? "I found you," his voice was a low rumbling that had her hair rising on end.

"W-where?" Her voice shook.

"By a body," he grunted and she gulped. She remembered the woman; she had been viciously torn in half. "You were blacked out… blood everywhere. Do you know what attacked you?"

"No," she squeaked and pulled the shirt down. "W-what happened to me?"

He was silent but she could hear as he moved across the creaky wooden floor. She could hear the sound as if he was standing near her; she flinched as she heard a squawk and turned expecting to see a bird behind her. But there was nothing but a dirty wall, her heart thundered as she turned to face the man. He was slowly moving up the stairs, she could smell him. He was clean for a man who had dragged her into an old house. He smelled of soap and dirt… and the decaying scent of death. It was a sharp smell; her smell had never been that strong.

"You're a werewolf," the statement was so cold and factual; she could almost believe his statement was true… or at least he had diagnosed her with some incurable disease.

"A… werewolf," the statement made her anxiety settle and she grew slightly comfortable. "It's highly impossible."

He rolled his eyes as he shoved passed her, as if dealing with a child. "Do you smell things you would not normally be able to smell? Has your hearing become much sharper?"

His mind was addled, it had to be. She stepped away from him as he walked around her, having no time to deal with her antics. She was in shock of course, still reeling from the horrible fact that she had found half a dead body and been attacked by something. She still, however, did not feel as if this was really happening. Though she did need to check her phone, her parents were probably worried that she hadn't returned home.

Instead she curiously followed the tall man, the man who thought she was a werewolf. Inside her heart was pounding, the man had to be crazy. "It isn't impossible," he answered as she followed him through a door.

Shyly, she pressed her hands behind her back. "Thank you… for saving me," she grimaced. "But I must head home now…" she started to move back.

"Fine," he grunted. "Not my problem if you attack someone."

He let her leave; she found it personally strange that he had not tried to follow her since he was a little strange. She would have thought he would follow, to convince her that she was a werewolf. She took a deep breath and moved down the stairs, the smell of the man did not grow faint; neither did the smell of decay on his body. She opened the door to reveal dawn light and frowned, blinking slowly. She began to move away from the house with the crazy man, not wanting to be caught in his melodrama. There was no such thing as werewolves; perhaps he had knocked her over last night.

In the distance, a howl sounded loudly and she flinched. She stopped rising on her tip-toes and feeling the need to howl. She opened her mouth to look at the sky and closed her eyes when she felt someone smack a hand over her mouth. "Don't alert yourself to him," he snarled, "Go home." The man behind her shoved her and she stumbled.

It was still illogical, she desperately thought to herself, to deny what was changing inside. There was no probable way that werewolves, or any folklore creature like them, existed. These reactions had her shaking as she hurried out onto the street and began to follow, strangely not losing stamina as she would have. She pushed the thought back as she made it to their new two storey house in suburbia of Beacon Hills. The house was much like the others on the street; she grimaced when she glanced at the back door.

Instead, acting on an instinct that she didn't know, she made her way toward the fence. With power and strength unusual to her, she scaled the fence and launched herself at the roof. She gripped it and swung herself over, stumbling on the hard tile toward her window. She shoved it open, for once in her life thankful that these strange houses didn't have windscreens. She slipped into her bed and pulled the covers over her shoulders, once again hearing a howl but fighting not to react to it. It was a normal wolf and this night had not happened.

* * *

A blaring of an alarm clock alerted her; she frowned and moved to grasp her phone. She rolled over onto her side and opened her eyes slowly; her vision was sharp as she glanced at her phone. But her phone was not the one with the alarm, though it felt as if the alarm was right next to her ear. She scowled and threw her blankets off her body, stumbling out of her room and almost tearing her door of the hinges. She turned down the hall and began to pound on her sister's door.

"Turn the alarm off Allegra!" She yelled, "It's too loud!"

"Romilly," someone yelled and she whipped her head around. Her mum stood at the end of the hallway, her short curls a mess. "Why are you yelling?" She frowned, "You were out for a while last night, we didn't hear you come in… are you alright?"

Before she could answer the door opened to reveal Allegra, she was holding her phone up. Romilly winced when her little sister held up the loud mobile that had an alarming screaming from it. "Shut up Romilly," Allegra turned off her alarm, "I need it for school." She shoved passed her sister and headed into the bathroom, slamming the door so loud Romilly's head began to throb.

"Sorry mum," Romilly turned around to face her mum, "I didn't mean to stay out so long… I got lost."

"Of course," her mum smiled. She would believe it, especially since Romilly would not go out of her way to socialise with anyone. Romilly struggled with opening up and even talking to people. Except she had spoken with someone, the strange man who lived in the run down house in the middle of the forest, she shivered at the memory.

It had to be a dream, she thought to herself as she slowly moved back into her room. She could hear the shower running quickly and she could hear her mum and stepdad speaking. Their voices were low but it was clear, concern for both their daughters. Her mum was worried about Allegra starting school and Romilly who was not willing to go to a college; she wanted to do everything online.

On the edge of her bed, Romilly curled her fingers around the end of the shirt she was given and turned her head to her open window. The morning sun was bright as it rose over the houses; one of the neighbours left their house screaming. She could hear him as he made his way to his car, opened it and slammed the door. He tore out of the street angrily, his partner ran out onto the lawn in a dressing gown. The man looked forlorn from what Romilly could see as she moved closer to the window to stare down at the street.

A black, expensive car slowly rolled down the street and went even slower outside the front of her house. Her body came alert and tense, ready to spring as she stared down at the car. It didn't stop for long, she watched as it began to leave her street and she finally felt as if she was able to breathe. She looked down at her shirt and frowned when she found holes in her shirt. She pulled it over her head to look closer, there were holes where her nails had been… strange.

She took a deep breath and drift back into the sanctuary of her room, throwing the shirt to the floor as she picked up another. She waited on her bed, her legs crossed as she watched out her window until her sister finally exited the bathroom. She grabbed clean clothes and made her way there, showering slowly. The water had never felt so refreshing before, the water made all her muscles turn to jelly. She sighed in pleasure and began to shave her legs, preferring the feel of smooth legs over prickly legs.

Once out of the shower she swiped her hand across her fogged mirror and gasped. Her dark brown eyes had appeared gold; she leaned closer only to frown when the colour moved back to the dark, almost black colour of her eyes. She took a deep breath and squeezed them shut, concerned as to why she would be seeing her eyes changed colour. She pushed her hair over her shoulder and moved to check out her back, shocked to see that where she thought and injury or scab would be… there was nothing but clean, smooth back.

Grimacing, she threw on clothes quickly and moved downstairs. Her mother had another protein shake in her hand. Since her mum had been a kid she had struggled with her weight, her mum was now down to a healthy weight but she tried her best to maintain that weight. Her mum's short hair was pulled into a small pony tail and she had changed into her gym gear. Her mum had joined the only gym in Beacon Hills and had asked Romilly to join her, but she wasn't a person who enjoyed exercise. Except this morning… she was more than willing.

"Mum," she spoke softly, "Are you going to the gym?"

"Yeah," her mum absentmindedly closed the fridge and moved to turn on the kettle for her stepdad.

"Can I come with you?" Her mum looked up in shock at the question. It was not just the fact Romilly hated exercise, but also because she struggled to be around a lot of people.

"Of course you can," her mum smiled, "Go change."

She didn't have anything that was considered 'work out gear'. Instead she threw on leggings and a large shirt, thankful she had bought a sports bra back in Australia. She braided her hair slowly and headed back downstairs. Lincoln, her stepdad, stood in a suit and tie. Lincoln was an attorney; she had once considered becoming a lawyer but was now against the idea. He often looked attractive in his suits, his dark hair greying at the temples. He was a nice man, if a little stubborn. However, she had met him when she had been only really little, she had grown up with him.

Only she'd never been able to call him dad, her real dad was a man who had died when she was twelve. She'd been choked up about it, though he had brought it on himself. He had struggled with drugs and alcohol most of his life; he'd been involved with questionable people and had taken it way too far. That had also contributed to Romilly's anxiety.

"You're going to the gym?" Lincoln asked as he stared in disbelief as his eldest daughter, as he often proudly boasted.

"Yeah," she muttered quietly. "Are you taking Allegra to school?"

"She doesn't want to go to school," he rolled his eyes.

"Of course I don't!" Allegra screamed as she came storming down the stairs. "I _hate_ the American school system, it is absolute bullshit." Allegra sneered, "How the hell are you going to afford to send me to college?" She waved a hand, "Don't even lie to me!" She threw some food in her bag, "I don't want to be here."

Her aggression had Romilly shifting uncomfortably, her nails dug into her palm as a growl rumbled in her chest. Romilly had opinions but she wasn't as vocal as Allegra was. Romilly was taking online courses but Allegra, who thrived on social situations, would have preferred to be back in Australia with all her friends. Romilly didn't mind the move.

"Come on Leg," Lincoln held the garage door open for Allegra, smiling affectionately at his youngest child, though the smile was strained. "Into the car, we don't have all day to wait for you." Allegra went, grumbling and stomping the whole time. Romilly eventually calmed, frowning when she looked down at her hands. There were crescent shaped cuts in her hand, in the place where her nails had been. Slowly, before her eyes, they closed up. She gasped, shaking her hand out and then looking at it once again. Her hand was bare; it was like she had never been cut.

Denial was the first sign, she knew that. But it was easy to deny that she did not have supernatural healing qualities, she was not some sort of freak and nothing had happened last night.

 _Nothing_ happened.

She was _not_ a freak.

If only she could convince herself.

* * *

 **Wow, hi. Thank you for clicking on my Teen Wolf fanfic. As you can tell it is a Derek/OC story, I've been working on this since April basically. I am already in season two (woop!). I hope you like this story, if you don't I understand. Try not to be cruel. I don't know if you'd call it a slow burn - they don't really get together until season two but, idk.**

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you stay awhile x**


	2. Chapter 2

**The silent car ride grated on Romilly's nerves,** mostly because she could not get the image of her cuts clearing out of her mind. When they pulled up outside the gym, Romilly pushed herself out of the car and took a deep breath. She rubbed her forehead, following her mum inside the gym. People greeted her mum, some of them moving forward to speak to her for a while and even engaging Romilly. But she was tensed to spring, not wanting to people to look at or talk to her, she didn't understand why.

"What do you want to do Milly?" Her mum asked as they moved further into the gym.

"Up to you," she shrugged her shoulders. Her skin was prickling, she felt as if people were looking at her. She tensed and turned, however there was no one watching her.

Her mum made her way to a treadmill and Romilly stepped on it, turning it on slowly. She began to walk, keeping up a pace with her mum. Her breathing evened out and she felt free, a strange thought came over her that she could run free like this always. So she began to turn the treadmill up to a slow jog, before that frustrated her and she moved into a run. The treadmill gave her no satisfaction; instead she stepped off of it and frowned. Her mum had stopped, blinking at her in shock.

"When did you start exercising Milly?" Her mum raised her eyebrows.

"A while ago," she replied but that was a lie. She had _run_ but had not broken a sweat, what the hell was happening to her?

"Wow," her mum smiled softly. "I'm glad, Allegra hates any exercise that isn't dance and I know that even though your dad does exercise with me, it is not one of his favourite things. He prefers to play sports."

Romilly was half listening as her mother rambled, the woman could talk. Her eyes shifted toward the window and once again she saw the black car that had driven so _slowly_ through her street in the morning. This time it was parked across the street, she didn't know if anyone had gotten out of it but she knew the owner of the car was watching her. Tense, Romilly stepped back as if the walls of the gym could protect her, but whoever this person was… it felt like nothing could protect her from them. She breathed out in relief as they car took off, she felt as if she could breathe again.

Turning to her mother, she watched as the woman made her way across the gym toward the toilets. Romilly moved toward the exit, opening the door and stepping out into the fresh air. She took a deep breath and rested her head against the glass, trying not to _think_. It was almost impossible, her heart was pounding and she could hear things, people talking. A woman across the street was speaking to her lover, a man was complaining about his children to his friends. Her senses and her healing were unnatural, what had happened to her last night?

Her mind flashed to the man who had _saved_ her, though she wasn't sure that it was the right word. The man who had told her she was a _werewolf_ so carelessly and flippantly that she chose not to believe him, but what if he was right? It was a possibility, a large possibility that she was a _werewolf_. Her eyes opened quickly, no, that sort of stuff just wasn't real. It didn't add up, there was no truth or science behind any sort of supernatural creature. So she was not a werewolf.

 _But how could she explain what was going on around her, and what was happening_ to _her?_

She ignored those thoughts, heading back inside where her mother walked toward her. "All done, what do you want to do now Milly?"

They headed home after three hours of shopping; Romilly had jumped straight into the shower. Her skin felt sensitive and the pounding of the water on her back strangely hurt. She rolled her shoulders and turned the shower down, letting the water fall on her rather than pound on her. Once she stepped out of the shower she rubbed herself down slowly, her skin showing up a little red. She shook her head and changed, heading into the lounge room.

"Milly," her mum spoke from the kitchen. "I'm going to head to the school to pick up your sister, do you want to come?"

She had nothing better to do. So she stood and slipped on some shoes, heading toward the car. Beacon Hills Middle School was relatively large, many students went there. They sat at the drop off area and Romilly watched. She watched the students, frowning at them as they all came rushing out. Some of them even had boyfriends or girlfriends, others laughed with their friends and some even scowled. Allegra was quick as she headed toward the car; she opened the door and slid into the back seat, pushing her hair out of her face.

"How was your first day?" Their mum asked as she began to drive away.

"I hate it," Allegra announced. "The kids are nice enough, wanted me to keep talking." She rolled her eyes, "My accent is annoying so why do they care?"

"You're different," Romilly answered from the front of the car, "The shiny new toy."

"You can say that again," Allegra sneered. "Though there were a few other new kids, we're in our last year before high school." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you see any cute guys?" Their mum smiled largely, "Any you might like?"

"No," Allegra's cheeks coloured pink. "I'm not here for a boy mum, why don't you ask Romilly if she's gonna meet a guy?"

"No offence sweetie," their mum directed at Romilly before answering Allegra, "Your sister is _not_ going to get a boyfriend anytime soon, she does not leave the house much unless with one of us. How is anyone supposed to approach you Romilly?" Her mother directed at her in the end, frustrated.

She didn't care; she didn't want anyone to approach her.

Back at the house, she spent a little time downstairs before making her way upstairs. She moved toward her window and peered out; glancing down at the street trying to picture if there was a black car. But there was nothing, she stepped back and felt something behind her. It was warm and smelled familiar, a large body. She tensed, ready to spring and scream. But something whipped out and covered her mouth, a large warm hand.

"Scream," a rough voice murmured in her ear, sending shivers down her spine, "And I'll tear out your spine."

She made no moves, to scream or to attack the man. So he released, but as he did so she spun around ready to smack him. His reflexes were quick, he grasped her wrists tightly and she stared up at him. His eyes were pale green and he was rather attractive, even thinking that set her on edge. The man snarled his jaw tight as he stared down at her. She didn't look away, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of weakening and suddenly letting him win their sudden battle of wills.

"Who are you?" She hissed under her breath and looked toward her door, just in case her mother or sister decided to burst in.

"Derek," he answered and stepped back, releasing her. She rubbed her bruised wrists.

His voice was also familiar and she gasped, he was the insane man from the night before. Her eyes narrowed, "What the hell do you want?" She snapped, "I don't believe any of what you said last night. You're insane."

He stepped forward, "I'm not insane." He snapped his teeth, "When you feel the urge to rip out your mum's throat then you'll believe me." He grimaced, "But I can't let it get that far. Already there's been another person bitten…"

"What?" She demanded, though she didn't particularly believe this man she had noticed changes. However, his execution of this information was terrible so it was no wonder that she did not believe him. "Who?"

"Just a kid," he rubbed the back of his neck, "He goes to the high school."

She froze, "If what you are saying is true… what would a _werewolf_ want with a teenager?" She almost choked on the word, she was nineteen still a teenager but at least an adult.

"Because they take to the bite easier," his voice was low. "I'm guessing you were collateral damage," she didn't like the way he said it. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her hands into fists, daring him to say more. "So do you believe me?"

"No, _yes,_ " she grimaced. "I don't know what the hell to believe." She curled her lip and stared up at him suspiciously, stepping back. "This is unlikely; it is not possible that werewolves exist." But why had all her senses sharpened?

He rolled his eyes as if he was fed up with her, her probably was. "Look kid," she grimaced at the terrible nickname, he couldn't have been much older than her. "There's a full moon coming up-"

She interrupted him by waving her hand, "Hang on. If I am a ' _werewolf_ '," she mocked him with using her hands as quotation marks. "How the hell do you become a werewolf?"

"You're bitten."

"And if so," she continued before frowning, "Are you the one that bit me?"

"No," He answered in frustration, "There is another." He grunted and began testily, "There is a full moon at the end of the week and you'll lose control." Her stomach dropped, "Most often you'll attack the people you love the most."

Inside her chest, her heart felt as if it was going to burst. She stared at the man, not in the least comforted by what she guessed was supposed to be comforting. She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back, sitting at her desk chair. She looked down at her hands, where the claws had sunk into her palms earlier and she had healed drastically, she didn't want to believe it. In fact she wanted to deny it; perhaps it would be better if she couldn't know the truth. However, _if_ she was a werewolf than she needed to know how to control it, how to make sure she didn't attack someone.

She looked up, meeting the eyes of the man in front of her. "You need to teach me," she told him and moved forward, not grabbing out to touch him but leaving that possibility.

He disappeared out of her window but not before informing her of a place they needed to meet at, he mentioned going to convince the other wolf to meet with them too. Another one, a poor kid had been turned into a werewolf. She shook her head; no until the full moon she couldn't be sure it was actually real. She moved and sat on the end of her bed, letting the mattress sink underneath her. Her door opened and her mum entered with a smile on her face, she was so glad her mum couldn't smell the heavy scent of the man who had been in her room. He did smell nice, for a crazy person who didn't sound so crazy.

"Are you ready?" Her mum asked.

She furrowed her eyebrows, "For what?"

"I've been invited to dinner," her mum moved toward her mirror and checked her hair. "I asked if my whole family could come, so here we are." She smiled softly, "We're heading to dinner with the Argent family. They're new in town too, but your father knows the father of the girl around your age." She frowned, "Well the girl is between both you and Allegra." She shrugged her shoulders, "So get ready Milly, we don't want to leave without you." She wanted them to leave without her, she couldn't be bothered.

Changing, she threw on some jeans and a shirt. Her hair was parted and braided into two Dutch braids. Her makeup was minimal; she slipped on her wedges and headed downstairs. Lincoln was dressed casually but even his casual dress involved slacks and a tie, a purple tie this time. Her mum wore jeans and a nice top, exactly like Romilly. Allegra, at thirteen, loved to show off and was wearing a dress and some wedges she had probably stolen out of Romilly's cupboard – not that she minded.

Sliding into the back seat of the car, she winced at the sound of the garage door slowly closing, the noise was annoying. Allegra slammed the door to the car and once again, Romilly winced at the noise. She scowled at her sister who shrugged innocently.

Pulling up to the Argent house was intimidating, it was a large two storey build that showed off their wealth rather well. Her mum pulled to a stop and the slid out, Allegra was fidgeting as Lincoln knocked on the door. "Stop fidgeting," Romilly hissed and nudged her sister.

"Shut up Romilly," Allegra scowled, "I can do what I want."

" _Wow_ ," she hissed sarcastically, "I didn't know you were so grown up." She felt a sharp pain in her palms and opened them; once again bloody welts were healing. She blinked slowly; she did not hear Allegra's remark but stared as the door opened to reveal a woman with cropped hair.

She had a friendly smile as she allowed the family inside. Romilly immediately asked for the toilet and hurried, turning on the sink to scrub the blood off her hands. She looked in the mirror and took a deep breath, her face didn't look strange. She wiped her fingers under her eyes and headed out of the bathroom. Following the loud voices, she came out into a large living room with a fireplace. Allegra sat on a couch with a brunette girl with high cheekbones. Her parents sat talking with what she could guess were the girl's parents.

"Romilly," Lincoln smiled, "This is Mr and Mrs Argent," he motioned to the couple who sat beside each other. She watched them; she wouldn't have put them together. She turned as Lincoln introduced her to their daughter, "And this is their daughter Allison."

"Hi," Allison waved and Romilly sat on a single seat away from them all.

Allegra had pulled out her phone and frowned, "Do you go to Beacon Hills High School?" Allegra asked and looked up to meet Allison's eyes.

"Yes."

"Cool," Allegra put her phone away, "Can you tell me what it is like?" Romilly was suspicious Allison was just humouring her sister, if she was she would get very angry. Instead Allison answered her sister, talking _all_ about her first day. "Did you meet any guys?" Allegra asked as she looked up unblinkingly at Allison.

"Uh…" Allison looked down at her lap with a bashful smile. It was clear she had met someone; strangely Romilly could smell something coming from her. The same with each of them in the house, it was strange and she furrowed her eyebrows. She brushed her hands along her jeans and stood, following the adults into the dining room. She was served salmon; she ate it slow, savouring the taste. Whoever had made the food was an amazing cook, Romilly couldn't help but think as she slowly bit into her salad which had a nice salad dressing over the top.

"So Romilly," Mrs Argent began and she looked up, her eyes wide as she was a deer in headlights so to speak. "What are you doing?"

"Online courses," she answered briefly.

Her mum began, "Romilly isn't good around new people." Her mum looked sadly down at her plate, "We don't begrudge her for it though sometimes we are concerned." She shrugged her shoulders, "But I am happy for her, she's always wanted a university education."

The conversation flowed easily, taken from Romilly and moved onto Allegra. They talked about her sister's dance, acting and singing – how academic she was. Allegra was amazing at everything she tried, a lot of the time she didn't have to try. As long as they weren't talking about her, she was fine listening to them brag about each of their kids achievements. Mrs Argent loved to brag about Allison, it was strange but as Romilly listened she couldn't help but feel sympathy for Allison who just seemed too _perfect_. She had a lot to live up to, and if she crushed their expectations… Romilly could only imagine.

Once she was back in her room, they had left the Argent house half an hour ago – she felt refreshed. She moved toward her window and frowned, staring up at the moon that was moving toward a full moon. But the crazy man who claimed she was a werewolf had told her that the full moon was not until the end of the week so there would be no need to worry if she suddenly turned into a wolf. She frowned, she had forgot to ask him – what would she turn into? She shook her head and sat down on the end of her bed, kicking off her shoes.

Hearing a howl she tensed, looking toward the window. She blinked when she noticed something dark crawling over the roof of the house across the road; she pressed her nose to the window but shook her head. Whatever it was… it had disappeared. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her curtains, pulling her laptop onto her bed. She stared at Google, blinking slowly and tapping the keyboard.

Werewolf.

She backspaced and took a deep breath, closing the lid to her laptop. She shook her head, no, only time would tell if the nut job was right. She wanted to wait until then however; she did not want to fill her head with nonsense if it wasn't going to be true in the end.

* * *

 **Wow another chapter - it is actually my birthday tomorrow so... I'm finally eighteen! :D**

 **I forgot to tell you guys this is posted on Wattpad under the same name btw.**

 **Also thank you to all who favourited, followed and reviewed - it means a lot to me. It isn't perfect but I like this story, I've actually worked really hard on this. So thank you so much for reading.**

 **There should be a chapter every Saturday so, enjoy! xx :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**The day of the full moon,** perhaps the insane man had wanted her to feel ominous but she did not feel as terrified as he had obviously wanted her to be. It was a Saturday; Allegra had woken late and laid in the bath until the water was cold. Romilly had waited patiently but had instead decided to shower in her parent's bathroom, annoyed with her sister. Lincoln had cooked eggs and bacon, Romilly had grabbed a plate and headed out onto the back veranda. She stared at the tree line and chewed her food slowly, picking up the bacon with her fingers.

"What are you going to do today?" She turned her head as her mum directed the question toward Allegra.

"Aren't you going to drop me off at Cassie's?" She asked and raised an eyebrow, "I mean… you said I could go." She scowled as she dropped her fork and crossed her hands over her chest.

"Romilly will take you," their mum grasped Lincoln's hand. "Your dad and I are going out on a date, are you okay with that Romilly?"

She shrugged her shoulders, but her eyes widened. That niggling feeling, the man's voice in the back of her head. What if everything he said was true? "What time do I need to drop you off?" She looked down at her little sister.

Allegra looked just like her; they both took after their mum. However, Allegra also had things from her dad – like her blue eyes. Her hair was more of a wave than a kinky curl like Romilly's – yet they had the same dark colour. Allegra's eyes had always been considered beautiful, a blue colour like the sea when it was sunny. Allegra was going to be the most gorgeous out of the sisters, she already was and she was only young.

"Two," Allegra answered and took a sip of her tea.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Romilly stood up and brought her plate inside. She dropped it in the sink and moved toward the fridge, bending down as she opened it to peer inside. She grimaced and closed it, heading up the stairs to her room. Inside her room she sat herself on the edge of her bed; she leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. In a little childish act, she had bought stars and planets, glow in the dark ones, and put them on her ceiling.

Hearing a thump she turned her head, her eyes widened when the man who had told her that she was a werewolf opened her window. He slid in and turned to her, narrowing his eyes. She found him ridiculous, she thought as he moved closer to her. She sat up and stood, crossing her arms over her chest. Their eyes met, dark clashing with light, he was attractive. She finally thought as she watched him head on, he stood a head taller than her. She curled her hands into fists, taking a deep breath and making sure not to growl. Why did she feel the urge to growl?

"Are you ready?" He muttered as he stared at her, stepping back and grimacing.

"I still don't believe you," she muttered and picked up her phone, checking the time. She had an hour or so until she had to take her sister to her friend's place.

She heard him let out an annoyed sigh, she dropped her phone onto her bed and she turned to face him. Placing her hands on her hips, for the first time in her life she felt as if she could challenge someone. She wasn't weak, just because she had social anxiety and was practically an awkward person the majority of the time – those things didn't make her weak and they didn't matter. With this man… she felt comfortable enough to not feel as if she was awkward or doing the wrong thing. It was strange, she had just met him and it was possible he was insane.

He watched her through narrowed suspicious eyes. He was distrustful of her, she couldn't blame him. She lowered her arms, "When do I need to meet you?"

The man's voice was low, "Six."

"Why so early?" She raised her eyebrows; she couldn't imagine the excuse she would have to give to say she was going out at six. Though she was an adult, her mother still liked to know.

"The moon," he muttered, "It will affect you from the moment it rises, make no mistake." He was so… ominous and brooding – rather stiff.

"I won't," she narrowed her eyes, "Are you telling the other one this?"

His lips pursed and she took it as a no, especially since he did not look particularly thrilled that she had asked that question. He looked away from her; he appeared as if he did not want to admit something to her. "Look," he snarled, "I get this is hard to believe but if you _don't_ that's fine." His eyes narrowed so dangerously she wouldn't have been surprised if she had burst into flames. "But you'll both come crawling to me for help when you tear into someone's throat." He disappeared, though she watched him climb out of her window, it had felt as if he disappeared.

Before she could dwell on her thoughts, a knock on her door distracted her. "Yeah…" she called out as she stared at her window.

"Were you talking to yourself?" Allegra scrunched up her nose in disgust, she didn't say anything. "Whatever, can you drop me off at Cassie's now?"

"Yeah," she nodded and looked away from her window, grabbing her phone. Once they were in the car, Romilly put her phone down and turned to her sister, "Where does she live again?"

The girl lived awfully close to the Argent house, Romilly thought as she briefly remembered the street name when they had driven to the Argent house that night earlier in the week. "Can you come get me tomorrow?" Allegra suddenly asked, "Mum and dad will _not_ want to get out of bed."

That much was _definitely_ true; however, she wasn't sure if she would want to get out of bed. "What time to I have to pick you up?" Romilly asked as she pulled up to traffic lights.

"Two," Allegra muttered, "We're hanging out all day together."

"Cool," she didn't know what else to say as she drove through the centre of town.

"Did you hear about the body?" Allegra suddenly asked and Romilly stiffened, she _found_ half the body. "Do you think there's a murderer running around Beacon Hills?"

"I don't know," she spoke so softly, "I really don't know Leg."

She waited in the driveway as Allegra knocked on the door, it opened to reveal a young, red headed girl who grinned and dragged Allegra into the house. Sighing in relief, Romilly began to back out of the driveway, and curled her hands around the steering wheel tightly. She began to drive toward the Beacon Hills Reserve, driving up a dirt path and making her way toward a two storey house that had possibly seen better days. _This_ was the place the man had dragged her to, as she pulled her car into park and turned it off, she stepped out.

The house had once been white, but from a fire and carelessness, the house had fallen into disarray. The white had become a harsh grey colour, with black lines of ash. She moved toward the door and opened it, the door slammed against the wall as she stepped inside. The man was nowhere to be found, so she began to explore this burned, abandoned home. One room on the first floor and second was completely caved in, she could not enter. Instead she made her way down a door and some stairs, the basement was not caved in – thank god.

Her eyes began to adjust to the dark and she felt her foot catch on something heavy and metal. The throbbing pain shot up her foot a little, but it eventually faded. She didn't question, instead she bent down and touched the burnt safe. She frowned and opened it, pulling on it. It peeled back and she was shocked, she sat back on the ground and stared at her hands. Was she that strong? She was beginning to believe him, if she was that strong there was no possible way that she wasn't anything weird.

Inside the safe she frowned, she pulled out some things and shook her head when she noticed an old photo. Intent on analysing her findings, she grabbed the safe and began to move out of the house. She loaded it into her car and dusted her hands against her jeans, staring up at the house.

"You're early," she turned to face him in the sun for the first time.

He was taller than her, though she had already known that. He was rather attractive, rugged and bad… _handsome_. She shrugged, "I didn't want to head home." She didn't, her parents would be so loved up.

He nodded his head slowly, "Fine." He entered his house and smelt her, "Did you enter?"

"I was curious," she shrugged unapologetically, "What was this place?"

"A home," he answered with a growl and she rolled her eyes. She knew that already, she wanted to know if it had any significance to him.

She placed her hands on her hips, "So are you going to tell me your name?"

"Derek," he grunted and turned to face her. "What's yours?"

"Romilly," she answered softly, "Call me Romy."

He didn't say anything; he turned his back toward her and grabbed something. It rattled as he spun around and held up some chains, her eyes widened as she automatically stepped back. She met his eyes and he watched her, his eyes narrowing as if daring her to challenge him.

"Whoa," she cried, "What the hell are you doing with those?"

"You need these to learn control," he laid them over the wooden bannister.

She backed away, "Excuse you but I don't know how they will give me any sort of control!"

Derek's eyes flattened as he stared at her. "I will not risk you running out and killing someone," he shook his head, "There's already enough of that going on." She thought she hadn't heard him correctly, "Now get in the chains when I tell you too, got it?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Romilly stepped back. "You're not my Alpha," she didn't know where the thought came from, but it sounded right. His eyes flashed electric blue as he spun around to face her.

"Do you know who the Alpha is?" He spoke slowly, his voice low as he moved closer to her.

Immediately she shook her head, "No." She frowned, "It just sounded right to say."

"There's an Alpha out there," he looked toward the front door, his face hard. "He has bitten another," she listened, "And they've killed." _The body in the woods,_ she shivered. "We're Betas," he explained. She didn't doubt him anymore, but she still wanted proof. "Wolves who are below Alphas, an Alpha builds a pack around Betas. They're also Omegas, wolves without Alphas."

Her eyebrows furrowed, "Doesn't that mean we're Omegas?" She asked him.

Derek sighed but didn't answer her question. She sat on the end of the staircase, a little worried she'd fall through. They sat, talking on and off, until she suddenly stood. It had darkened; Derek had pulled out a few electric lanterns. Her body tensed and Derek stood, his nostrils flaring as he moved toward her. She narrowed her eyes and stepped back, baring her teeth. She stopped when his face suddenly changed, his brow became defined and his teeth grew and large, thick side burns appeared on his face. She stared in horror, forgetting all about whatever the hell she was going to do.

"Get in the chains," he snarled. She did as he asked, letting him put the chains on her – it finally sunk in what he was… and what she was. "I need to leave," he looked toward the sky through one of the cracked, old windows. "The other Beta," he muttered.

He hadn't needed to explain to her, she would have let him leave without question, though she was slightly grateful that he had told her. She worried about her parents and her sister, how would this mess up their lives? I whimpered and leaned against the wolves, slightly tugging at the chains. Why did it have to be like this? Pitifully, I looked toward the sky and felt a whine leave my lips. Was this supposed to happen? Her stomach dropped and she tugged at the chains, feeling lonelier than ever.

She looked toward the roof and let out a howl, it was a sorrowful howl but no one heard it – they did… surely they would have answered. She sat there, she did not know for how many hours, whimpering and howling. The chains were slowly loosening until finally they split through the wood holding her back. She leapt to her feel, the chains whacking against her legs as she burst out of the degenerate house and hurried into the woods. Her vision grew sharper as she began to shift.

Her chest felt as if it would explode, she took deep breaths as she hurried through the woods. She found herself bursting out onto a road and she turned, hurrying after a scent. She found herself standing outside a two storey house. She blinked slowly before hearing someone yelling, she turned to watch a boy scurry off into the forest. She followed him and suddenly felt something sharp stick into her shoulder. She fell to the ground, whimpering and howling. Her body writhing as footsteps got closer to her.

"Another," someone snickered, "Looks like someone wanted to keep her chained up." Two men bent down and one lifted her chin, "Newly turned." He touched her cheek and she stared up at him in shock.

"There's another!" Someone shouted and the men left.

"She won't be going anywhere," the large man shrugged and the smaller followed him.

Letting out a little wail, she looked down at her shoulder where an arrow protruded out of her body. She began to cry, not listening to the voices near her. She missed whatever was said, "What is that?" Someone asked and in her fear, she did not catch that the boy was the Beta.

"This is an example of what hunters do," she heard Derek's voice cut through her wail. He bent down and pulled the arrow out of her body, tearing it in a way where she threw her head back and let out a scream. "She should be so lucky," he muttered under his breath and scooped her under his arms, taking her away from the little Beta who turned on his heels and began to hurry toward his friend.

Cold and clammy, she shivered as she stared at the man who handed her a warm drink. She sipped it slowly, leather jacket that smelt like him wrapped around her shoulders. "What were they?" She whispered and met his eyes.

"Hunters," he grunted and picked at the leaves on his jeans. "Why did you break out of your chains?" He looked toward the wood that had been torn through. He had not realised turned wolves would be so much work.

Pursing her lips, she looked away, feeling ashamed. "I was lonely," she whispered, "I howled and no one answered me."

She looked up slowly, watching him blink. His face had a permanent scowl, but at least he looked a little concerned. "Right," he clenched his jaw and stood slowly. "Lonely, not angry?"

Shaking her head she answered, "Not angry."

There was something said under his breath that she didn't catch. He turned away from her and rubbed his temples, muttering something that she was not paying attention to. Though she did hear a few curses, her cheeks coloured and she shrank further into the jacket. She prided herself on being strong and intelligent; she couldn't believe she had been _lonely._ She was not like that; she didn't need to make sure people were around her all the time. In fact she preferred to be by herself, so why had she suddenly called for someone to keep her company?

"The moon's over," he looked toward the sky. "You'll be fine for the rest of the night," he watched her, "It'd probably be better if you are around your home, your family."

But the thing was they were out. She nodded slowly and thanked him, apologising for the damage and hurrying toward her car. Her hands shook as she shoved the keys into the ignition and began to pull out of the dense part of the forest the house rested in. She sped toward her home; as soon as she got there she hurried toward her room. She buried herself under her blankets, letting the familiar scents of home wash over her.

Deep in the night an Alpha waited, two Betas, both seemed entirely useless. He looked up at the house that his female Beta had escaped into, he had heard the lonesome call that she had made. His claws lengthened, aching to kill the weak creature. He could not have a wolf that would feel lonely; he needed to rid himself of her. His red eyes narrowed when he noticed a black Camaro pull up to the house slowly, keeping watch over it. He slunk back into the shadows.

While he sought out those who had murdered his family, vengeance flashed in his body, he would make sure to destroy the weak Beta. There were plenty of other options to choose from, there was a whole high school full of them. He turned and started to hurry toward the place he would stay until he was safe. He felt very pleased with himself, but as he morphed into the man those thoughts began to change, he didn't think them any longer as he slipped into the coma patient once again.

* * *

 **I need to be honest, this isn't my favourite chapter and I completely forgot about this (sorry). Also my birthday was great, I'm finally eighteen! Woop! I bought my first alcoholic drink which was so strange, like I was so scared lmao.**

 **But yeah, this isn't my favourite chapter. I like it, I mean I wrote it but out of all the chapters I've written there are better ones. But I wanted to make a completely different reaction to the full moon, she's not an angry person she's just lonely. I feel like their 'inner wolf' (lmao) will bring out what they're really feeling inside - like Derek's rage, you know? So inside she's lonely.**

 **But thank you all for reading it means a lot to me! Thank you for the reviews, favourite and follows too! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**After the full moon and embarrassing herself,** Romilly woke up feeling refreshed. She logged onto her computer and began to go through her course outline and emailed her lecturer. The next few days she worked on her studies and didn't see Derek, the only people she saw were her family. Often she would think she could smell Derek or see him, but it was just her imagination. She worried about the other Beta, the one who didn't believe Derek, or at least wanted nothing to do with what they were both going through. She didn't know how she felt about being a werewolf, it was rather strange.

"Milly," she heard her mother call and she looked up as her mother stepped through the door. "I'm needed down at the police station, do you want to come?"

She blinked slowly; her mother was a criminal psychologist. "What for?" Except she didn't work often, she'd specifically asked to be part time.

"Some guy's been brought in," she shrugged, "They think he cut his sister in half."

It wasn't unlikely, from the stories Romilly had heard she wouldn't be surprised if some guy had done it. She'd heard horrible things, from her stepfather _and_ her mother. She decided to agree and slid into the passenger seat, tapping her fingers on her legs. They pulled up to the police station and Romilly straightened her skirt and followed her mum. Already her mum was greeted warmly as they entered; Romilly was stopped to have stupid questions asked by those who worked with her mother. She was impatient and rather annoyed; she followed her mother into the office of the Sheriff.

He was a man probably the same age as her mother with blue eyes and light brown hair. He had a coffee in hand and was sipping it; he slowly stood and reached out to shake her mother's hand. "Nice to see you again Joy, sorry we had to call you on your day off."

She waved a hand, "No problem." She smiled, "This is my daughter Romilly."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled kindly and she shook his hand, stepping back suspiciously.

"Dad!" A boy burst into the room, he was a little strange looking with incredibly short hair.

The Sheriff rolled his eyes, "And this is my son." He motioned toward the boy, "Stiles this is Joy and Romilly."

"Hi," he nodded, "Any news on Derek?"

"Derek," Romilly stiffened and let the name slip out of her lips without considering the consequences.

"Yes…" the Sheriff eyed her curiously, "Derek Hale, do you know him?"

Before Romilly could speak her mother interrupted, "Could I speak to him?" Her mother suddenly asked, "I need to see if he was the one that actually killed her."

"She was buried on his property," Stiles spoke up and Romilly turned to glare at him. Derek would _not_ have killed that girl, there was an Alpha and though he was cold and distant… he didn't seem the type.

The Sheriff led her mother to the cells and Romilly sat on the couch in the office. She picked up a bunch of magazines and flicked through them, before groaning and tossing them away. She watched the teenager move to rifle around his father's things, looking for evidence. Was it to condemn Derek? She watched him suspiciously; he should have been in school. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood, stepping toward the teenager who suddenly looked up.

"Why are you so intent of condemning this guy?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No reason," he muttered and leaned against the desk, attempting to straighten the papers. "No reason at all, is there a reason you're defending him?"

Usually Romilly would _never_ speak to a stranger, but with this kid she had to prove him wrong. She had to make sure Derek was not imprisoned for something had no part in. "Have you looked at all the facts?" She asked and for the first time since becoming a wolf, she began to grow angry.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Where was he the night she was murdered?" She asked, "Are you sure he was in town?"

He made a noise of annoyance and shrugged, "Your mum will find out."

Romilly fell silent and exited the office, she moved toward a drink fountain and watched slowly as her mother exited the cell. The Sheriff leaned his head towards her and she felt her hearing work. _Animal hair,_ the Alpha, it had to be. She breathed a sigh of relief and bent, filling her plastic cup and drinking before putting it in the bin and watching as her mother made her way toward her own office. Her mother scratched her head and Romilly slipped past, heading down to the cells.

Derek sat, angrily in one of the cells. His shoulders were bunched around his ears and he looked miserable. Romilly stepped forward and wrapped her hands around the bars, feeling a wave of comfort as she stood outside. He looked up at her and blinked, she gave him a small smile before looking behind her. She was grateful that he was okay, a little annoyed at whoever had decided to condemn him. She breathed slowly and watched him; he stood slowly and straightened his back, sauntering toward the cell door.

"Get me out of here," he spoke so slowly and calmly that she did not catch onto the claustrophobia in his voice.

She blinked slowly, "They found animal hair on her body so you'll be let out soon." She reached to touch his shoulder but he stepped back, she felt a little disappointed he didn't want her comfort.

"I know," he snarled. "It was the Alpha," his eyes flashed cobalt blue for a split second and her heart began to race, a little fearful. She waited as he looked down and she could have sworn she saw pain, "It was my sister." Her heart ached for him at the confession, her hands curled around the bars and her claws grew.

She could not imagine the pain, especially if it had been her sister torn in half. "How did they find the body?" She wanted to press him for more answers, she also wanted to ask why or how he had buried his sister's body.

"The other Beta and friend," she blinked slowly and frowned at his words.

"Why would he do this to you?" She asked but Derek only shrugged his shoulders in.

"Romilly," she heard the sharp reprimand of her name from her mother. She turned her head to face her mother, "What are you doing down here?"

Romilly shrugged her shoulders as a deputy moved passed her mother to unlock Derek's prison cell. He slipped passed them, barely acknowledging her as he moved out of the police station. She followed her mother, who was flustered and angry she had gone to talk to criminals. Though she forgot to mention that Derek did not kill his sister, and it was proven since there had been animal hair found on the body. Her mother hurried toward their car and they drove passed the high school, Romilly staring curiously. A game or something was happening; she didn't really understand the love for sports.

"Now," her mother spoke softly, "Please don't consort with criminals Milly."

"He's my only friend mum," she found for the first time, in a long time, that she back chatted her mother.

The woman looked shocked; she leaned back in the driver's seat before shaking her head and stepping out of the car. "He can't be," her mother cried, "You don't surround yourself with many people."

"Well my only friend was accused of murdering his sister," Romilly frowned, "Why is that a problem?" She suddenly asked her mum, "He didn't do it, you proved that." Her family were the only ones she could speak to comfortably.

Her mum scrambled to catch up with her as she walked through the front door. "That is beside the point!" Her mother cried, "He was _accused_. There was a chance he planted the hair there, to throw us off."

"Really mum?" Romilly snorted, "You have to admit that is a bit of a stretch."

"What is a bit of a stretch?" Lincoln moved out of the kitchen. He held a beer in one and a sandwich in the other.

"Romilly is consorting with criminals!" Her mother cried and slammed her bag down on the kitchen bench.

Lincoln's face was comical, his eyes widened as he stared in shock at his oldest daughter. "What?" he asked and stared at Romilly, "Don't be ridiculous Joy; Romilly's too smart for that."

"No she's not!" Her mother yelled as she bent down to look in the fridge, pulling out her own beer. "Our daughter hangs out with bad boys!" She shook her head, "You're a genius Milly, why would you do this!?"

Her stepdad laid a hand on her mother's shoulders, "Maybe we should just hear what she has to say."

Both parents looked at her expectantly. She sighed and threw back her head, her neck stretching as she squeezed her eyes shut. What was she supposed to say? _So mum, dad… I'm a werewolf and Derek is going to teach me how to be what I am._ That would not go over well; her mum just might commit her into an insane asylum. So instead she turned to face them and thought of the first thing that came to her head.

"Derek and I met in the forest and we just connected," she didn't know how the words sounded until her mum reacted.

"Oh my God," her mother cried and slammed her hand down on the bench. "Don't tell me you're dating him!?"

"Well… _no_ ," Romilly's confused protest fell on deaf ears. She stormed up the stairs, screaming about _what have I done to deserve this_! Her stepfather followed after her mother, mirth on his face. He was enjoying it.

"Cool," she heard her younger sister's voice who looked up from her iPad. She had been lounging on the couch, one leg bend and the other leg resting over it. "At least I'm not the one to stuff up this time."

Romilly rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs, two at a time. She heard her mother ranting; she found her mood an exaggeration but didn't fault her mother for having her own opinion. Inside her room, she closed the door softly and headed to the window. She opened it and stared out at the street, Derek's black car was not driving passed but she supposed it was because he had been arrested. She wondered why the young Beta had decided to arrest Derek, had they looked at the facts or even bothered to question Derek?

Somehow she doubted.

Rubbing her foot, Romilly sat on the edge of the couch. It was late, perhaps nearing eleven at night. Her mum had come down stairs and apologised, her stepfather had smiled and Allegra still appeared smug that Romilly had been the one to make a mistake this time. She had ignored her sister's apparent thought of superiority and moved to turn on the television. She had flicked through the channels before deciding to watch a television show.

Her mother and stepfather had headed to bed; Allegra had followed – not before making a comment about Romilly. She heard a thump and looked up, staring at the ceiling. She frowned and shook her head, watching whatever show she had paused on. She changed the channel again, before hearing another thump. She frowned and stood, pushing herself up. She headed outside, sliding the black glass door open. Her eyes looked out at the darkness, a faint light from the street shined into her backyard but other than that… her backyard was dark. She frowned and noticed an illuminous red; it was bright and coming from two spots. Something launched itself at her and she gasped, hurrying back inside, locking and slamming the back door.

Romilly stepped back and began to head up the stairs, her feet thundering against the thin floors of the upstairs. "Romilly?" Someone asked and gasped loudly as Romilly looked toward her sister who gasped and flicked the light on.

"What's going on?" Lincoln demanded and stepped out into the upstairs area.

"Romilly was being weird," Allegra eyed her sister suspiciously.

"Sorry," Romilly rubbed the back of her neck, "I was watching something that scared me." She shivered and looked at her stepfather, "I'm going to bed."

"Alright Milly," Lincoln looked at her sympathetically. "We'll see you in the morning."

Once in her room, she headed toward her bed and sat on it. She heard a howl and twitched, standing immediately. She looked towards her window and when the howl sounded again, she had no control over what she was doing. She moved toward her window and opened it, climbing out onto her roof. She felt no jarring pain as she jumped off the roof and onto the ground; she began to hurry toward where the howl was coming from.

Inside the dense forest, she turned and waited for that howl. But there was nothing, she did not know where she was but she found herself in the middle of nowhere. She frowned and wrapped her arms around her body, turning. In front of her, a large creature stood with glowing red eyes. She gasped her body shaking as she stared at the creature that stalked towards her. She immediately stepped back as it grew closer to her. The creature's movements began to speed up, it hurried toward her and she immediately turned, running as fast as she possibly could to get away from what was stalking her.

In all her life, Romilly had never run as fast as she was running from the creature behind her. Her legs pumped and she breathed out quickly, darting behind one of the trees as she heard it howl again. She continued to run, toward something, she didn't know what. This had been the creature in her backyard, it smelt familiar as if she knew what it was but she could not place it. She was running so fast that she didn't notice the hunters, but she felt the pain. Something clamped around her foot and she stopped, falling to the ground as something dug into her ankle.

Throwing back her head, she let out a cry for help. The howl erupted into the night air; she didn't think that the hunters would find her. She looked at her foot and grasped it, angry that she had not been noticing where she had been running. She looked behind her; whatever had been following her had vanished. She moved forward and tried to yank the trap away from her ankle, that only made her scream out in pain. Her screams erupted into the quiet night air, she wanted help but she knew that it was possible she was caught.

"Romilly," she heard someone hiss and she looked up. Derek was bent in front of the trap, "Do not scream." He moved his hands toward the trap and she jerked to stop him, only it tore into her ankle more and she let out a wail. His hands clapped over her mouth, "Do not scream."

He moved, achingly slow and touched the metal of the trap. He stood in front of her and she gasped, her chest rising as she stared at him in fear. He immediately opened the trap and it took everything within her not to scream. She managed to move her leg, though pain fired up the limb. The trap snapped shut, covering in her blood. Her body was managing to heal but slowly and painfully. She could not move and immediately she was scooped into Derek's arms.

Inside his run down house, he handed her a water bottle and she watched as her leg healed. "Was it hunters?" She asked, "Who laid that trap?"

"Yes," he grunted as he stared out the window. "Why were you running?"

"I heard howls," she licked her lips, "Did you?"

He jerked his head in answer, "You were summoned by the Alpha."

"So why did it try to kill me?" She stared as her skin became smooth again. She moved her leg and swung it around, sitting to face him. It was surreal that her leg felt no pain, she felt grateful for the strange powers she was given.

Derek turned to face her, "It did?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah. It wanted to kill me… _bad_."

His nostrils flared, "You better get going."

Standing, she tested her foot and nodded at him. "Thanks," she answered and rubbed her arms. "You should have been Alpha," she turned and headed out the front door, leaving Derek blinking behind her.

What she didn't know was that her probably would have become Alpha had someone not have stolen his sister's status. If she had died naturally or by hunters… it would have fallen to him. Derek rolled his shoulders back as he watched the Beta disappear through the treeline. He had an enemy to defeat, what was confusing was that the Alpha seemed to want Scott but wished Romilly dead. He eyed the forest in front of him and snapped his jaw, careful not to let out a howl to call Romilly back.

"Who are you?" Derek growled as he stared out into the night air. He received no answer, just the quiet still air. Earlier when he had heard howls and then screams, he had thought the Alpha had claimed another victim. Instead the howls had stopped and there was nothing but screaming. He had followed instinctively to find Romilly. He had then heard the Alphas. Beacon Hills which had been a quiet community for six years, though Derek had not been there at the time, was changing. Danger lurked around every corner; the supernatural was rising and taking over.

And Derek didn't like it one bit.

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 **Sorry in advance if some of my chapters aren't edited. I am lazy, I can write but editing is awful and I hate it. Thank you guys so much for the reviews, follows and favourites! It means a lot to me. Enjoy this chapter. Also my theory about Peter wanting to kill Romilly is that - not only is she an accidental turn but she's also weak in his eyes.**

 **He only wants the best. Stupid Peter. But tbh Peter is one of my favourite characters. Enjoy this chapter, I'm working on Chapter 25 right now which is E:10, S:2. I've been procrastinating. But I've also had my final exams and I have another one in like a week and a half. I'm terrified. But soon I graduate and I'm off to uni! Woo. Enough about me.**

 **Enjoy the chapter x**


	5. Chapter 5

**All night Romilly had heard howls,** they had kept her up all night with the urge to run toward the howls. It was no wonder when she woke in the morning she was snappy and angry, she rolled over and grabbed her towel. In the bathroom, the shower did nothing to calm her or even make her feel less on edge. She stepped out and rubbed herself with a towel, combing through her hair almost violently, yanking out the curls.

The house was quiet, which was strange. She frowned and moved into her room, checking the time. It was ten in the morning, which explained a lot. She dressed and headed downstairs, she looked toward the backdoor which she had slammed shut the night before. There was no sign of anything outside, it was quiet. She shook her head, not wanting to freak herself out. But she was a werewolf now and there was a chance that thing was a monster, a monster who was out to get her. Her heart pumped, she really didn't want to think something was out there trying to _kill_ her.

A knock on the front door distracted her; she opened the door to reveal Mrs Argent. She furrowed her eyebrows, "Hi Mrs Argent…" she trailed off, "Is there a problem?"

"I was wondering if your mother was home," she smiled warmly at Romilly but she felt something was off with the woman. It was playing in the back of her mind but she couldn't pinpoint it exactly.

"Uh sorry," Romilly leaned against the doorway. "Mum's at work, you can see if you can try to get her for lunch." She paused, "Or would you like me to tell her you came and to call you back?"

"It's alright Romilly thank you," Mrs Argent backed away from the door, "I'll visit your mother at the police station."

Frowning, Romilly shut the door after waving at the older woman. What did she want with her mother? There was no time for Romilly to think as she shut the door and turned, letting out a small yell. Derek Hale stood in the entryway, "You shouldn't speak with her."

"Why?" Romilly gasped as she stared at him, wanting him to stop sneaking up on her.

"She's a hunter," Derek growled, "They want to kill us, _all_ of us."

Blinking slowly, Romilly took a deep shaky breath. "A hunter?" Her voice was no more than a squeak as she began to follow Derek who turned and made his way up to her room. She entered and wrung her hands out, "What are you doing here?"

Derek didn't answer; he kept his mouth shut before turning to her. "The Alpha might've killed someone last night," she sucked in a deep breath.

"Was that the one who turned me?" He nodded, "I think he tried to kill _me_ a few nights ago."

The werewolf finally showed something more than a stony face or a scowl, he actually frowned at her. "How?"

"He tried to run at me," she shivered. "He was in my backyard, he chased me inside. And in the forest, but you know about that."

Watching, she noticed that he looked tensed. "Come with me," she followed him out to his car and slid in the passenger seat. She tapped her fingers on her legs, feeling awkward as she looked out the window and watched as the houses drove by. She didn't exactly know where Derek was taking her but she had a bad feeling as they turned into the forest. Was he going to train her? She was sure that she would not… _wolf out_ because it wasn't a full moon.

They came to a stop outside the burnt Hale house; Romilly stepped onto the rotting front patio and looked at it. She supposed when it had been in it's prime, the house would have been a beautiful home. She could see a family in it, coming home from the full moon. She did not understand why Derek tortured himself by staying in the home, especially since most of his family had died inside. It made her feel _sad_ , especially since Derek was so alone now. His sister had been murdered; he'd lost his entire family in a fire. It was understandable as to why he was so distrusting.

"What are we doing here?" Romilly turned to look up at Derek; he stood away from her and looked out at the forest. "Is this about the other Beta? When can I meet them?"

"He doesn't know about you," Derek answered quietly.

"Why not?" Romilly scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, "I thought he saw me at my first full moon."

"He doesn't accept it," Derek clicked his tongue, "And he thinks I'm the one that turned him."

"Have you explained to him that you _can't_?" To any other person, she wouldn't have been able to speak to them like that but with Derek she found it easy. He didn't terrify her like he might have if she had been herself before the werewolf bite. Now she felt some sort of warmth and comfort around him, she supposed it was a feeling of _pack_.

"He's an idiot," Derek snarled and clenched his hands into fist. She could only imagine that inside he was angry, angry enough for him to turn wolf. It was what she saw when he turned around, his eyes so different to her own. They were _blue_.

She blinked slowly, "Are your eyes blue because that is your natural eye colour?"

The question seemed to shock Derek out of his anger. He stopped and slowly his face changed, his eyes were not as piercing and he shut them, turning his head away from her. "No," the cold word warned her not to pry. She _wanted_ to; she really wanted to know why he was so ashamed and why he turned his head away. But she couldn't, he wouldn't let her know because Derek had problems, just like she did.

Her mouth opened again and he held up his hand. She frowned and moved to peer behind him, a police car pulled up out the front of the old house and she jumped back. Her hands were shaking slightly; she looked up at Derek who began to grow. He became menacing, his eyes flashed blue and his face was beginning to morph. She had never seen him like that, he had always been calm. But he let out a low rumble that seemed to travel to the police officer. The man looked around him before tearing out of the property.

"What was that?" She asked as she gazed up at Derek who only headed out the door.

Romilly went tumbling after, she stumbled out and looked up as a boy made his way toward them. He was taller than her and tanned skinned. He had an unusual uneven jaw that she found adorable. "Derek," he barely registered Romilly behind the big man, "I need your help."

"For what?" Derek's chest rumbled as he looked toward the place where the police car had disappeared to.

"Will I hurt someone… kill them?" The boy asked his nostrils then flared and he peered behind Derek to spot Romilly. "Is she the Alpha!?" His voice rose almost to a hysterical level.

"Yes," Derek answered before looking down and Romilly, "No. She was bit like you." She didn't say anything, she only gazed at him. Her stomach was churning but Derek continued. "I can teach you to remember what happened," Derek told the boy, "And to control your shifts."

"You will?" The boy looked up at Derek, staring at him in suspicion.

"Go to the bus," Derek answered and turned back to the house, "Let your body remember for you."

The boy immediately ran toward the forest and Romilly gaped, spinning around on her heels and hurrying into the house after Derek. The comfort she felt for him made her feel normal, as she was with her family. So perhaps that was why as soon as they entered the house, she tried to form questions but came up short. Derek kept his back to her and knelt down, he began to fiddle around with something on the floor and she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing. She sat on the end of the stairs and put her chin in her hands.

"I didn't realise the other Beta was so young," she suddenly blurted. "Why doesn't he trust you?"

Derek turned his head, "I don't know."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and she pushed some hair behind her ear. "Don't play that game Derek, I'm not an idiot."

He snorted, "Right."

Insulted, Romilly stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Look at me!" She demanded, he didn't bother to look up and that only made her angry. She had never felt rage like this, her jaw elongated and so did her nails. She bent down and pulled the wood off the top of the stair she had been sitting on. She ditched it at the back of Derek's head and demanded again, "Look at me!"

Derek turned, his nostrils flaring as he straightened his shoulders, "Why…" he lowered and slowed his voice, "Did… you… do… that…?"

Instantly she froze her hand up as her anger slowly left her. It was replaced with fear, she stiffened and stepped back, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm so sorry…" she winced, "I didn't mean to."

He stepped forward and he grew even bigger if that was possible. Yet perhaps Romilly was shrinking, trying to make herself smaller as she was ashamed of what she had done. Her heart thundered inside of her chest and she turned her head away, if she didn't look at him hopefully he wouldn't try to harm her. Though she shouldn't think like that, Derek wouldn't harm her; he just didn't have it in him. So instead she moved slowly, up the stairs, gripping the rotted wooden bannister as she looked up to meet Derek's eyes.

"Please," she whispered, "I really didn't mean it Derek; I only wanted to get your attention!" She scoffed, "I want you to tell me things because I'm part of this too!"

Derek shook his head, "Don't you ever hit me again." He pointed at her and she nodded, gulping as she looked own at her feet. She still wanted to know the reason for the other Beta's distrust in Derek but it didn't seem like she'd be getting the answer any time soon.

So Derek trained her, she was able to retract her claws by the end of the day but even then she didn't feel accomplished. He didn't compliment her; he remained cold and distant, barking out orders like a drill sergeant. She hastily tried to follow his every command to make up for the problem she had caused earlier. The guilt was eating her alive, she wanted nothing more than to have him forgive her but she doubted it was going to happen. So when they were done for the day, she sat on the end of the patio to tighten her shoelaces.

"Come on," she looked up as a shadow passed over her. Derek loomed over her, "We have to go somewhere."

"Where?" She stood up and tucked a loose curl behind her ear, "Is it important?"

"The man who the Alpha attacked last night," Derek grimaced, "He woke up."

She brushed her hair behind her ear and nodded, "You want me to go with you?"

Derek only grunted, "Are you coming or not?"

"Of course I'm coming," she narrowed her eyes and stalked passed him. She slipped her hand around the door handle and tried to open it, grimacing as Derek stalked over. He unlocked his car and immediately Romilly slipped inside, pulling her phone out and raising her eyebrows as she noticed the texts from her mum. Her mum had gotten protected since she found out Romilly was friends with an _alleged_ criminal.

The car ride was silent; Romilly tapped her fingers on her thighs, jerking one leg every now and then. She was silent and awkward, wanting to say something but not wanting to speak in fear of Derek lashing out. She would never be an Alpha; she was too… submissive and terrified of people getting angry at her. Sure she could stand up for herself but that was hardly ever, and most of the time it went hand in hand with her temper, leading her to lashing out at people. Exactly like she had done with Derek, he could've been an Alpha.

They pulled up to the hospital and Romilly stepped out of the car, shoving her hands in her pockets and following after Derek. He didn't bother to go to the front desk; he walked right up to the elevator and hopped inside. She was worried someone would yell at them, or at least demand to know what they were doing. So she would nervously tap her foot, pulling out her phone and checking the time.

"Can you stop?" Derek growled under his breath.

She jerked up, blinking slowly as she looked at him. "What?" She asked, her voice rising slightly.

"Stop distracting me," he snarled and shoved passed her as they made it to the floor they needed to be at. "Wait outside," he warned her as he stopped outside a room. She nodded her head slowly, all she could hear from the inside was the man constantly mumbling sorry under his breath.

Her head turned at a smell and she frowned, shoving her phone in her pocket. She could smell something strange; she made her way to a door and pushed inside. A woman was there, she was hooked up to IVs and looked near death. It wasn't her that smelt however, she didn't stay long as she heard the flat line of a heart machine. She ran as fast as she could to Derek who immediately grabbed her arm and yanked her toward the elevator.

"Where did you go?" He snarled, "I told you to wait outside the room!"

"Shut up!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes. "I smelt something strange," she inhaled, "It's gone now."

He shook his head, "Don't defy me again." He pointed at her.

In annoyance, Romilly brushed his hand away. "You are not my Alpha," she growled, "You're only a Beta Derek."

That annoyed Derek more than she could understand; he stiffened and turned away from her. She didn't know why that had stopped him but she was grateful, she couldn't handle him getting in her face any longer. She was surprised when he didn't drive off when they arrived at his car; she waited until she was seated with her seat belt on before he sped out. He made his way to her house and said nothing to her as she stepped out, zooming away just as she slammed the door to his car. She crossed her arms over her chest, _what the hell was his problem?_

Stomping up to the front door, Romilly shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the key to the house. She entered and stopped, watching as her mother stormed into the hallway. "Where have you been?" Her mother asked calmly, "I have been calling you all day."

She looked down at her phone and sure enough that had been constant texts and emails from her mum. Immediately her anger at Derek disintegrated and she lowered her shoulders sheepishly, "Sorry mum, I was busy."

"Hanging out with your delinquent friend?" Her mum demanded as Romilly walked passed her.

Whipping around, she glared at her mum. "He's _not_ a delinquent. You were there, he was cleared. It was animal hair! Derek wouldn't kill his sister!"

"He's up to something!" Her mum shouted, "And you're being dragged into it!"

"No I'm not!" She snarled and could feel her nails growing, immediately she panicked and bolted up the stairs. She shoved her door open and slammed it shut, leaning against it as she breathed heavily. She looked down at her hands through blurry eyes to reveal her claws; she hurried toward her mirror and stared at herself. Her eyes flashed gold and her face was covered, she had fully transformed. Her mum was screaming up the stairs but she couldn't pay any attention.

Turning her head, she touched the hair on the side of her face delicately. "Damn it," she hissed under her breath and tried to calm down. She closed her eyes and breathed through her nose but nothing was working. So she paced, in panic.

"Come talk to me," her mum's voice grew softer as she knocked on her door. "I'm sorry Milly."

"No," she snapped, not meaning to sound as harsh. But she was in a panic; she winced and could hear the door open. She dived and locked it, "No mum please don't come in!" She squeezed her eyes shut, "I'm sorry; I get it but I promise Derek isn't bad news!" She cried, "I forgive you and I know this is a shock to you. I promise we aren't in any trouble, please just leave me alone!"

Hearing her mother's sigh of defeat, she let out a breath of relief as she heard her mother back away from the door. "Alright darling," her mum spoke softly through the door, "But just know that I'm here for you, okay?"

"Of course mum!" Romilly shouted, "Thank you."

Once she was sure her mum had disappeared, she darted toward the mirror and was relieved to find that she was back to normal. How the hell had she done that? She shook her head and fumbled for her phone, planning to contact Derek as he had given her his number. But she stopped; thumb hovering over the contact button. She had enough of him for one day and they had already gotten into an argument, she didn't need to deal with him anymore.

She needed to have a serious relaxation day.

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 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites again. It means a lot. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I don't know - the Derilly dynamic (as my friend coined it) has become one of my favourite things to write about.**

 **Also to the guest that reviewed asking if an Omega was a lonely wolf - I think so, I mean they are without their pack. But then Scott wasn't lonely - but I think he had his pack without naming it. Derek changes that as a friend first (though they don't really call themselves friends).**

 **But thank you all so much, I hope you enjoy this. I'm sorry btw, you have to wait until at least chapter sixteen for any sort of romance. But I must say it is hard writing when they are _together_ as I want to make it about the story but not so involved with their romance. Idk. Thank you all for reading! x**


	6. Chapter 6

**A sound on her roof had Romilly turning,** she suspiciously eyed her open window and almost screamed when Derek Hale slipped through it. "What do you want?" She asked as she continued to type on her laptop, continuing one of her assignments.

Derek stood taller, trying to get her attention. "Scott and I are going hunting for the Alpha," he informed her.

"Why do you constantly hang out with the guy who got you arrested?" She rolled her eyes, closed her laptop and turned to him. "And you want me to come too?" He paused, before nodding his head. "Alright," she cracked her neck, "Let's do this."

After throwing the wood at Derek for demanding what Scott wanted to know, Romilly had met him again. He was a confused kid and she got it, she was confused too. But she was taking a liking to what she was now; she had a power she had never felt before. She felt strangely confident, but that still didn't help that her brain was genius capacity. She was always thinking now, her mind going a million miles a minute. But she wasn't like Scott's friend; she had ways of shutting down her brain – especially if she was getting too anxious. She now felt comfortable with Derek too, more comfortable than she had ever been with a person before. So it wasn't unusual that she could speak to him with confidence.

Slipping out the window, Romilly followed Derek toward his car. She looked back to house and frowned when she noticed her mother's bedroom light on, the curtain moved and Romilly shook her head, there was no right to feel paranoid. But her mum was on her case constantly, her disapproval in Romilly's only friend clear. Romilly ignored it, what was the point? Her mum knew Derek had nothing to do with his sister's death, her mum wasn't going to pursue the case but she still thought he was a criminal.

"So where is he?" She asked, scratching her cheek.

"Tracking a car coming into town," Derek muttered, "Scott's waiting for us."

"Where?"

The answer was clear when they arrived, a car was left abandoned and they were near large, sea containers. Romilly heard a growl and tensed, "Where's the Alpha?" Derek demanded as he moved close to Scott.

"He went that way," Scott pointed and Romilly followed after Derek.

She had improved at controlling herself and could bring her change on at will. She felt her body change as she launched herself at a container, remaining low as she heard a gunshot. She watched as something dark crawled over a container and she went to follow it, only she heard a hiss and she dropped down. Derek was lying on top of one of the lower containers, clutching at his arm. She immediately dropped to her knees and stared down at him, unsure what to do. Her hands shook and she went back to her human form, what was she supposed to do when someone had gotten shot!?

Pulling his arm over her shoulder, she stood with a grunt and began to move. It was hard to move him from one place to another, he could stand and walk but he was weak. What was in that bullet? She didn't want to know as she shoved Derek into his car. She fumbled for his keys, digging her hand into his pocket to produce them.

"Don't," Derek snarled, "Touch my car."

Romilly turned to him with a scowl, "You have no choice. You're hurt," she shoved the keys into the ignition and reversed out of the driveway. She zoomed down the road, where to take him? She decided her house in a split second of panic.

Opening the front door she pulled Derek inside and hurried him up to her room, depositing him on her bed as she gazed down at him. "Let me go," he went to stand but she shoved him back down with her palm.

"No," she lowered her voice just in case one of her parents woke up. "You can't, you've been shot Derek."

"I can go," he grunted and tried once again to sit up, but Romilly only shoved him back down again.

"No you can't," she hissed and moved toward the door, locking it just in case Derek tried to leave or someone else tried to get in. Obviously it wasn't going to stop a werewolf, but she would at least try. "Now lie down and try to get some rest," she tore at his shirt sleeve and hissed under her breath. She headed toward her door and exited, grabbing a bandage and some wipes to try and at least ease his suffering. Entering her room she noticed her had sat up and was trying to put his jacket back on. "No," she shut and locked her door, hurrying towards him.

He tried to move away from her, "That isn't going to help," he nodded at the products she had brought into her room. "It's just going to spread until I'm killed."

Romilly felt her stomach drop and her eyes widen in horror, "What?"

"It's wolfsbane," he shrugged his shoulders, "Used to kill us." He groaned, "I'm going to be dead in a few hours or something." He said it nonchalantly, like it didn't matter and it angered Romilly.

"Don't say that!" She hissed and bent down, gripping his chin tightly as she forced him to look at her. "We will find a cure, do you understand me?" He looked at her and grunted, yanking his head out of her grasped and staring up at the ceiling. Romilly frowned and shook her head, she headed into her wardrobe and changed, and she sat on the small chair in her room and watched Derek. His breathing slow and he fell into a fitful sleep; she guessed it was from the wound. She rubbed her cheek and stretched her body out, pulling a blanket over her shoulder as she attempted to fall asleep.

In the morning, Romilly woke to the sound of crashing and groan of pain. "Romilly!" She heard her mum shout, "What was that!?"

Frantically, she jolted herself out of sleep and yelled, "I stubbed my toe and knocked over some books!" She yelled back and turned to look at Derek, he was holding his arm and he was deathly pale. He had a clammy look on his face; he grunted and tried to shove himself up. "Don't," she grabbed his shoulders, "Don't do anything stupid Derek, I need to go make sure my mum isn't suspicious."

She hurried out of her bedroom and ran down the stairs, anxiously expecting her mum to question her. Instead her mum turned around with a soft smile, "How are you feeling Milly?" Her mum asked, "How's your toe?"

"I'm good," she curled her toes, "So are my toes. What are you doing?" She frowned, "Aren't you going to work today?"

"No," her mum shook her head, "I thought we could hang out."

"We can't," Romilly blurted and immediately regretted it when her mum's face fell. Her mum had looked so hopeful and Romilly felt horrible for crushing her mum's idea.

"Why not?" Her mum peered at her.

She rubbed the back of her neck, "I kind of promised Derek I would hang out with him today." Her mother's nostrils flared, "I'm sorry mum. We can hang out tomorrow…" She trailed off hopefully and her mother jerked her head.

"You've changed since we came to America," her mum observed. "But you're not the little girl who wouldn't let go of my hand when we met new people anymore. I had to come to terms with it somehow," her mum turned to look at the window, "Just tell me you're being safe."

 _Safe,_ Romilly furrowed her eyebrows, "Of course we are." She furrowed her eyebrows, _relatively safe for two werewolves with hunters and insane Alphas running about the place._ "We haven't done anything dangerous, we're just hanging out. He lost his sister so I'm trying to keep him company."

Her mum jerked around, "So you're just friends?" She asked and narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah," Romilly nodded her head, "Why what'd you think we were?" Her face drained when she realised what her mum had been asking. "Oh my God!" She yelled, "I can't believe you would ask that!" She covered her face with her hands, "We just met! He's emotionally constipated and I'm probably just as bad!" She shook her head, "We're never gonna happen!"

At least her mum cracked a smile, she thought as she peaked between her fingers to look at her mum. Her cheeks were so red and Derek could probably _hear_ everything, "That's good to know Milly." Her mum smiled softly, "Just make sure you don't get too caught up in this guy's grief."

"I think he sometimes forgets he lost his sister," Romilly replied honestly, she would too with all the crazy stuff that was going on in Beacon Hills since her death.

Her mum smiled softly, "Anyone would be. I'm glad you're not getting into any trouble, I just worry about you, and you know that right?"

Romilly softened, "Of course I know that mum." She wrapped her mum in a hug, "Now I'm going to head to my room."

Taking two steps at a time, Romilly made it up the stairs in no time. She entered her room and looked up; clutching her door handle tightly as she frantically looked around her room. She hurried toward the window and leaned up against it – Derek and his car were gone. Frantically she showered and changed, heading out the door, giving her mum the excuse Derek needed her. It was true, he was possibly dying and he had _left_ , he was such an idiot.

Unfortunately she had no idea where to find him, she continued along the streets, her legs never tiring. She passed by the school and paused, turning her head as she noticed a commotion in the car park. She took a deep breath and began to move, shoving passed some of the students as she came to a stop outside some kids Jeep. Derek was on the floor, talking quietly to Scott and his strange friend. Scott nodded and hurried away, Stiles pulling Derek's arm around his shoulder as he began to take him toward the Jeep.

"Where do you think you're taking him?" Romilly stepped out in front. Perhaps she didn't look threatening in a baggy shirt, boyfriend jeans and white tennis shoes. But she was a werewolf and this kid looked like he was going to freak out.

"Uh…" the kid looked down at Derek.

"Romilly," Derek growled.

"No," she snapped, "Where ever he's taking you I'm going."

She didn't elaborate, though she did climb into the back of the disgusting Jeep. She curled her nose up as she slid away from dirty work out clothes, she did not need this in her life. It was quiet as they drove, just the sound of Derek's grunts and Stiles's annoyed grumbles. "Hey," Stiles scoffed, "Try not to bleed out on my seats okay? We're almost there."

Romilly scowled at the back of his head, "We're almost where?" Derek's voice was breathless, his head was down.

"Your house," Stiles sighed, was this taxing for him?

"We're sorry for taking up your time," Romilly grumbled under her breath and leaned back with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What?" That got Derek's attention, "No, you can't take me there."

"I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles demanded in disbelief.

"Not when I can't protect myself," Derek denied.

Stiles immediately pulled to the side of the road and turned off the car. He spun around to face Derek, "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmm?" Stiles demanded, "Are you dying?"

"Not yet," Derek muttered breathlessly, "I have a last resort."

"What?" Romilly asked, flabbergasted as she moved forward.

"What last resort?" Stiles demanded, Derek lifted his shirt and she stared in distraught. "Oh my god, what is that?" Stiles blanched, "Ugh is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out." He looked away from Derek and motioned toward the door, unable to look any longer.

Derek gasped, "Start the car, now."

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look," Stiles argued and Romilly bit her lip. Even if Derek was injured, it was probably a bad idea to argue with him because he _was_ in that state. "In fact, I think if I wanted to I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead." Did he forget she was in the back or know she was a werewolf too? She leaned closer, narrowing her eyes.

"Start the car," Derek stared at Stiles, "Or I'm gonna rip your throat out… with my teeth." That sent shivers up Romilly's spine and she wasn't sure why.

She leaned closer, poking her head between them, turning to face Stiles. "You probably should listen to him," she bit her lip and leaned back as Stiles quickly turned away and started the engine, pulling away from the side of the road.

Stiles turned, "Who are you?" He demanded, "What the hell are you doing in my car?"

"Leave her…" Derek wheezed, "Alone."

"I'm Romilly," she held out her hand and Stiles shook it slowly.

Letting her eyes flash gold, she grinned as he tore his hand from her grip and leaned away from her, swerving a little on the road. "Another one?" Stiles demanded.

"I was bitten by the same one that got your friend," she scowled, "And now we have to save Derek, so please." She motioned toward the road, "Keep driving."

"Romilly," Derek warned and she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her shoulder.

It was growing darker as she drove around aimlessly, where exactly where they going? She had no idea but Scott had to hurry up, Derek was getting worse by the minute and he probably wasn't going to last too long. It was beginning to make her anxious, Derek deserved to live – if he died there would be hell to pay. The Alpha would get her and Scott, what would they do without Derek? She curled her hands into fists and bit her teeth down on her knuckles as Stiles once again pulled over on the side of the road.

He dialled Scott and spoke with him briefly; she didn't exactly pay attention until she heard something she didn't like. "Like death," she peaked up and looked at the back of Stiles's head. What? She flared her nostrils and curled her nose; something was starting to smell strange.

" _Okay take him to the animal clinic,_ " Surprisingly that wasn't a bad idea from Scott's end, not that she thought he had bad ideas… well, she thought they both had bad ideas.

"What about your boss?" Stiles demanded, she sat impatiently. Could they make up their minds? "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you," Stiles sighed and handed the phone to Derek.

The man took the phone and lifted it to his ear, "Did you find it?" She could hear Scott as he made excuses, "Look if you don't find it I'm dead." She let out a little whimper, she immediately covered her mouth with her hands, and both guys in the front turned to give her a strange look as Scott continued to speak. "Then think about this, the Alpha called you out against your will and he's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him or you get killed." It sent shivers up her spine just thinking about it – she suspected she would be killed. "So if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet," he hung up the phone and Stiles began to drive.

They sped toward the vet and Romilly jumped out of the car as soon as they were there, Stiles hurried toward the spare key and she began to hover over Derek. He glared at her and she placed her hands on her hips, "Don't give me that look." She glowered, "You're injured." He still stubbornly refused to have her help him into the vet.

She followed them into the room as Stiles flicked on the lights, Derek had removed his shirt. He had a nice body, it made her heart race but there was no time to think about that now. He was breathing heavily and his arm… it looked like something out of a horror movie. Black veins were curled up his arm and blood seemed to seep from the wound. She had to squeeze her eyes shut and turn her head away; it would probably give her nightmares for months to come.

"You know that really doesn't look like anything some Echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of," Stiles spoke, trying to sound somewhat calm in the situation. They all knew he was freaking out, but wanted to remain cool.

"When the infection reaches my heart," Derek breathed heavily, "It'll kill me."

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary is it?" Stiles asked and Romilly slammed her hand down on the table in front of him.

"Now is not the time for your smart ass comments!" She growled and her eyes flashed, Stiles flinched back and she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at Derek who shook his head at her, "Don't Romilly."

Stopping herself from changing, she glowered at the young man in front of her. "I'm not doing this for you," she snarled, "I'm going to go check for Scott." She stormed through the double doors, feeling angry at herself for losing her cool. But it was bound to happen, especially since Derek was her friend now, and she took care of her friends no matter what.

* * *

 **You know I feel like such a bad person because I only just now realised I never updated on Saturday. I hope this makes up for it - I'm sorry sorry I was really busy. Because tomorrow I graduate! Woo! I am so excited to leave high school behind because it sucks.**

 **Anyway, I just want to thank you all for the reviews, favourites and follows. This is probably unedited, I don't know I'm really lazy. But this was one of my favourite episodes ever, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last few! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hearing loud footfalls Romilly looked up,** Scott came running around the darkened corner and hurried toward him. She grabbed his shoulders, curling her hands around the muscle and squeezing. "Do you have the bullet?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Good," she let go, "Come on."

They headed into the vet and Scott yelled for his friend, she heard the faint reply as they headed into the room where Derek was. "What the hell are you doing!?" Scott yelled and Romilly ran in after, skidding to a holt as she stared at the image in front of her. Stiles held a saw to Derek's arm, what had gone in in the five minutes since she had left them alone together?

Stiles slackened his grip on the saw and began to nervously chuckle, "Oh you both just prevented a life time of nightmares."

Romilly scowled and moved toward Derek, "Did you get it?" He breathed out heavily and Scott passed the bullet toward him, he stood up and stared at it. From his side she could see the sweat and pallor of his face, he was dying – not that she hadn't known before, she just hoped it worked.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked.

"I'm gonna…" Derek began to trail off, his voice becoming breathless as he repeated the words and dropped the bullet. It clattered against the table and Romilly immediately wrapped her arms around Derek who was beginning to tumble.

"Damn it!" She cried out she was strong but not strong enough to keep him up right. So they both fell, Derek's back hit the floor and her arm hit it. She grunted in pain, squeezing her eyes shut to keep from crying out. She slid her arms out from under him and pushed herself up, "Get the bullet!" She yelled.

Scott grunted, "I'm trying!"

Stiles slid to his knees on the other side of Derek and began slapping the side of his face. "Derek? Derek come on wake up!"

"Don't hit him like that," Romilly wrapped her hands around Stiles's wrists and they both turned to look at Scott.

"Scott what the hell are we gonna do?" Stiles demanded and pulled his arms away from Romilly's loose grip.

"I don't know!" Scott shouted from where he was on the ground, attempting to reach the bullet. "I can't reach it."

"He's not waking up!" Stiles yelled, almost on the verge of hysteria. "I think he's dying. I think he's dead."

"Just hold on!" Scott tried to comfort his friend.

"Losing it isn't going to help anyone," she put a hand on Stiles's shoulder. "Everything will be fine; you need to breathe before you have a panic attack."

"I got it! I got it!" Scott yelled and the two others looked toward him.

"Please don't kill me for this." Romilly frowned at Stiles's words and her eyes widened as he pulled his arm back. She unfortunately couldn't stop him as his fist came down on Derek's face. "Ow! God!" He yelled and began to shake his aching hand.

"Give me that," Derek gasped and they helped him stand. Romilly came around to the other side of the table as both teenage boys were standing by his side. She watched as he bit off the head of the bullet and emptied out the wolfsbane, he then lit it on fire. It crackled and went up almost like a sparkler, her eyes widened as blue smoke began to emit from the wolfsbane. Derek gathered it up in his hand and began to move it toward his wound, he pressed it in and Romilly's eyes widened as he began to scream.

Blue smoke seemed to come from his wound and he screamed, beginning to growl as he changed. His body arched in pain as she leant down, staring at the wound as it began to close up. She stared in shock, moving her eyes to his face. "That was awesome!" She heard Stiles say faintly but was too focused on Derek's recovery to pay him any attention. "Yes!"

Derek began to stand and she wrapped an arm around his bicep to help him stand. He growled at her but she shook her head, "Are you okay?" Scott asked.

"Except for the agonising pain?" Derek bit out and Romilly smiled, helping him to stand.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health," Stiles shrugged his shoulders.

Derek looked up at them with a glare, "Okay we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone." Scott looked toward Romilly, "Both of you. You got that? And if you don't I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad and I'm gonna tell him everything."

"You're gonna trust them?" Derek asked, "You think they can help you?"

"Why not?" Scott lifted his shoulders, "They're a lot freaking nice than you are!"

"Look at what one of them did to Derek," Romilly suddenly argued. "They'll shoot on sight, no questions asked." She didn't know this for sure, she was dramatizing it a little but she thought Scott was being a bit of an idiot.

Clenching his jaw, Derek nodded his head, "Yeah, I can show you exactly how nice they are."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

They headed out of the vet, after Romilly cleaned up. The two of them stood outside, Stiles and Scott getting into an argument as Stiles just wanted to take his friend home. She crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for Derek. His car pulled up and she moved toward it, Scott getting into the backseat. She opened the door and stared down at the man she considered an ally, she wouldn't go as far to say friend as he probably didn't consider her a friend.

"Am I coming too?" He nodded at her question and she slid in, putting her seatbelt on.

Coming to a stop outside a care facility, she frowned as she looked at it. "What are we doing here?" Scott asked as they stepped out of the car, that was what she wanted to know too.

She followed both of them down the hallway and Derek came to a stop outside a room. She wrapped her arms around herself as Derek pushed the door open but didn't bother to turn the lights on. It left her feeling rather creeped out, especially since there was a man in a wheel chair doing nothing but staring into space. She heard Scott ask who he was as she stepped back, moving behind Derek because she was bad when it came with ill people or someone who was dying.

"My uncle, Peter Hale," Derek told them.

"Is he like you? A werewolf?" Scott asked.

"He was," Derek answered, "Now he's barely even human." Romilly wrapped an arm around Derek's, just to comfort him. That was what friends did, even if he didn't like it he had a friend. "Six years ago, my sister and I were at school. Our house caught fire, eleven people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor."

"So what makes you so sure that they set the fire?" Scott asked and Romilly couldn't help but glower at him.

"How can you ask such a stupid question?" She hissed and felt the urge to hit up on the back of the head.

"'Cause they're the only ones that knew about us," Derek shook his head and Romilly stepped back.

"Then they had a reason," Scott was trying to make excuses for them and it angered her.

"Like what?" Derek asked, "You tell me what justifies this?" He swung around the wheel chair and Romilly gaped in horror as a burnt face was revealed. She stared at it, her stomach lurching. "They say they'll only kill an adult and only with absolute proof. But there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire. This is what they do, and it's what Allison will do." Allison Argent? Romilly felt sick to her stomach; there was no way she could go to their house again.

"What are you doing?" An outraged female voice asked, "How did you get in here?"

"We were just leaving," Derek informed her and the two Betas followed after him.

The car ride was silent, Scott was dropped off first and Romilly wanted to say something. But what did she say? She didn't know and she had no idea what to say that would make everything better. Because it wouldn't, she knew that. The car slowly pulled up to her house and she turned to face Derek, but he was staring straight at the road with his hand on the gear ready to change at any given moment. So she gave up, her shoulders slumping as she undid her seat belt.

Stepping out of the car she closed the door and began to head toward the front door, she pulled out her keys and inserted them into the door. It opened and her mum threw her arms around her, "We've been so worried about you!"

As she was being tugged inside, she turned to face the road but the car was nowhere to be seen – and she hadn't even heard it leave. "Where were you Romilly?" Lincoln demanded as Romilly was shoved onto the couch.

"You're so cold!" Her mum gasped and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, "I'll make some tea."

"Why'd you come back?" Allegra demanded as she looked up from the couch, "I liked being the only girl."

"Where have you been?" Lincoln stared at the girl he considered his oldest daughter, "We were so worried about you."

"Sorry," she thanked her mum when she was handed the tea ten minutes after she had arrived home. The TV was off and Allegra had been sent to her room but Romilly knew her sister was at the top of the stairs listening, so she lowered her voice. Her mum and Lincoln sat across from her, both disappointed but worried. "Derek was sick; I was there all day helping him get better."

"Why did you have to do that?" Her mum demanded, "Does he have no one else?"

"Of course not!" Romilly yelled, "His family were all killed in a fire, his sister was just murdered and his uncle is invalid at the moment! He needs someone."

"But does he need you?" Lincoln asked.

"Milly," her mum sighed, "We're happy that you are finally showing an interest in someone, making friends. But we're worried, he's not the best type of company and we're worried he's going to get you in trouble."

"He's not," she denied. "I promise you," she smiled at them tightly. "I'm not going to get into any trouble, I'm perfectly safe." She yawned and finished off her tea, "Now can I go to my room? I'm tired."

"Of course," she was squeezed by both of them and as soon as she started up the stairs she heard her sister scramble to head into her room, shutting her door silently. She laughed under her breath as she headed to her own room; she pulled off her clothes and sat on the end of her bed in only her underwear. She couldn't find any motivation to get up or change her clothes. But she eventually rolled over and pulled a large shirt over her head.

Throwing her bra to the floor, she pulled on her blankets and grabbed her phone. She narrowed her eyes as she scrolled through her Facebook newsfeed; she found two new friend requests – Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall. Reluctantly she accepted them, and put her phone on her bedside table. Her window as open, a cool breeze moving into the room as she stared up at the sky. She'd go to bed, get some rest and try not to think about the poor man that was in a care facility because the Argent hunters had decided to murder an entire family just because they were different.

It made her angry.

It was the afternoon by the time Romilly left the house. She had spent the whole day working on her studies as that was what she needed to do, she wanted to pass. So when she had left she threw her hair into a bun and grabbed the keys, taking the car to her mum who was stuck at work and had been dropped off by Lincoln. She'd spend the rest of the day there until her mum was ready to come home, or she'd get a ride from Lincoln after he picked Allegra up from dance class.

At the police station, she parked and entered. She nodded toward the lady at the front desk and headed into the action. Sheriff Stilinski stood near the other cops and nodded to her, "Romilly." He left them and moved toward her, "Stiles is in my office."

"Thank you Sheriff," she held up the keys, "I'll say hello after I give mum the keys."

Her mum's office was beside the Sheriff's; she knocked three times before entering. Her mum stood by the phone, "I know Lincoln, alright. I love you too; I'll get Romilly to pick up Allegra." She hung up and rubbed her face, "Oh hi Milly."

"Hey mum," she shut the door behind her, "What's going on?"

"Lincoln is stuck in the city, he won't be home for a few days," she sighed, "But that's alright." She smiled tightly, "Do you think you could go get your sister?"

"When?"

"Now," Romilly nodded her head at her mum's demand and threw her the keys. "Why aren't you taking them?" Her mum asked.

"I can get a ride," she entered the Sheriff's office and startled Stiles who jumped.

"What?" He demanded and turned to her, immediately he shut his mouth up.

"Come on," she nodded her head toward the door, "You're coming with me to pick up my sister, okay?"

"No," Stiles shook his head, "I don't have to go anywhere with you."

She had to give it to him, as she climbed in the passenger seat. Stiles had really put up a fight and had tried to be brave, but as soon as she had taken a step towards him he had caved. She hadn't even needed to scare him, it had just happened all on his own. If he wasn't so scared, she would've found it funny but she tried not to laugh at him just in case he kicked her out of the car. She'd go if he asked, she wasn't like Derek.

"So where is your sister?" Stiles asked nervously, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Dance lessons," she replied and gave him the address. "Thank you for taking me by the way, and I'm sorry if I scare you."

"No problem," he squeaked and she rolled her eyes.

"You're terrified," she snorted. "I'm just like Scott."

"Only friends with Derek," Stiles muttered under his breath.

"There is that," she nodded her head in agreement, "But he isn't all bad. He really does just want to help, and I trust him."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows, "So is that your little sister?" He asked and pointed to a girl who looked a bit like Romilly. Her hair was dark and curly but she was a little paler than her older sister. She held onto a duffel bag and there was one on her back as she searched the street for a car.

"Yep," Romilly opened the door before Stiles even stopped and he yelled out as she slammed the door. "Allegra!" She called and waved her hand, her sister immediately smiling.

Allegra came running over, "Where's dad?" She offered her bag to Romilly who took it, normally she would've told her sister to carry it herself but she was in a good mood.

"Stuck in the city for a few days," she nodded toward Stiles's Jeep. "Come on, I have a friend who's taking us home."

Shoved in the back of the car, Allegra wasn't happy as it was a mess. But she had learnt to be respectful to people she didn't know, but she found this guy extremely weird. "Is this the Sheriff's son?" Allegra peered at him strangely.

"Yes," Stiles nodded, "And you're Detective Vega's youngest daughter." He looked at her through his rear view mirrored before turning to Romilly, "Where do you want me to take you?"

"Home," Romilly answered and gave him the address.

Once they were dropped off Stiles sped away, not wanting to spend any more time with her than she wanted to spend with him. She messaged her mum to tell her they were ordering pizza and she grabbed her laptop, sitting on the couch as Allegra began to channel surf. The knock on the door for the pizza came an hour after she had ordered, she got up and paid, smiling and thanking the person who handed her the two pizzas.

"Come on Allegra!" She shouted for her sister who came skidding into the kitchen as Romilly poured them both a drink. "What'd you do at school today?"

Allegra launched into telling her something about maths, "It's really hard." Her shoulders slumped and Romilly smiled.

"I can help you out," she shrugged her shoulders, "Just tell me what I need to do and I can get it done." She yawned, "I wonder when mum is coming home."

"She'll stay late because dad isn't home," Allegra frowned, "Why do they act like they can't live without each other?"

"Because they probably can't," Romilly and Allegra headed to bed around the same time. Romilly showered first and then braided her hair, sneaking under the covers. Just as she was about to fall asleep her phone rang, she groaned and grasped around her bed to find it. "What?" She moaned into the phone.

"Romilly," Derek's voice was sharp, "The Alpha attacked a video store."

"What?" She sat up, "Why?"

"He killed someone."

"I'll be right there," she stumbled to pull some clothes on but was out the window and running as fast as she could to the video store.

* * *

 **woo another chapter. Sorry if these aren't edited or broken up, I'm really lazy. Thank you once again for all the favourites, follows and reviews. Someone asked me when I'm updating and I will do it every Monday now just cause.**

 **I've graduated btw, I'm finally free! I hope you all have a good day and thank you so much for reading my fanfic! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**By the time she got to the video store only Derek was waiting for her.** The police and ambulances were all gone; one would've thought they had never been there except for the caution tape around the store. Had she taken a while to get there or had he called her _after_ the Alpha attacked someone? It had to have been Alpha, so she shoved her hands in her pockets and walked slowly toward him.

"So what happened?" She asked and Derek moved toward her, "Where's Scott?"

"Home," he narrowed his eyes, "What took you so long?"

Folding her arms over her chest, she raised her eyebrows in challenge. Challenging him wasn't a good idea but she wasn't really in the mood, "Sorry." She muttered, "Did I need to get here so quick?"

"I had enough time to tell Scott-" Derek shook his head and held up a hand.

"Enough time to tell him what?" She didn't question why Derek was acting so strange, it was probably the stress from the fact that they needed to catch the Alpha. "You know what? Never mind, let's just talk about what exactly happened here." She motioned toward the video store that had a busted window; she wouldn't be surprised if some kids broke in their later.

"The Alpha attacked and killed the worker," Derek grunted, "Jackson Whitmore and Lydia Martin were the witnesses."

"They go to Scott's school?" She asked and he nodded, "What do we do about them?" Her eyes widened, "What if they know everything? Does that mean the Alpha will go after them?"

Derek's eyebrows drew together in a scowl, it was fierce but she didn't feel intimidated by him any longer. She wasn't sure when that change had occurred but it didn't bother her. "I don't know," he turned away and ran his hands over his hair.

"Okay," she nodded her head slowly. "So what do we do?"

"Go home," Derek waved at her and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. The more comfortable she became, the more likely she was to defy him.

"Fine," she nodded, "But you need to tell me what is going on." She pointed at him and turned around, shoving her hands back into her pockets.

"I'll drive you home," he announced and she turned around.

The car ride was silent and she didn't even try to speak with him. She got out of the car when he pulled up outside her house and hurried into her room. She was annoyed she hadn't been there when Scott had been there as she felt she needed to build a bond between the two of them. They were in the same situation like it or not, they both had the same Alpha who was a monster. Yawning, she rested her arm against her forehead and stared up at her ceiling. She had a feeling that it was going to get a lot worse from there.

Shoving a whole piece of toast into her mouth with a light spread of Vegemite, Romilly headed out the door. She pulled her arms through her jacket as she headed toward the pathway, making her footsteps quicken she headed toward her mum's car. They were going to lunch with Kate Argent and Victoria Argent. Why? She didn't want to know but it seemed her mum was getting close with them and it made her paranoid. They were hunters as soon as they found out she was a werewolf they would want to kill her.

"Are you ready?" Her mum asked as she climbed into the passenger seat of the car.

"Yeah," she furrowed her eyebrows, "So why are we having lunch with them?"

"Victoria called me this morning," her mum turned down the road toward the main street in town. "She wants to introduce me to her sister-in-law Kate, are you alright with that Romilly?"

"So why was I invited?"

"You've had such an attitude since we got here," her mum clicked her tongue. "You never once spoke back to me; you were always such a good kid. You lacked emotions but now you're so emotional, what happened?"

 _I was bitten by a werewolf mum and I'm a little worried you're dragging me like a lamb to the slaughter._ "Nothing," she sighed, "Where are we having lunch?"

A little café that overlooked the town was the answer, Romilly followed after her mum as they entered the café. Victoria stood taller than Romilly and her mum; hair cut short and dyed red. She was an intimidating woman. Kate was beside Victoria and the intimidation didn't let up, she looked even scarier. Her blonde hair was curled and she wore a leather jacket with tight jeans. She was taller than Romilly and her mum too, but Romilly's mum wore heels that made her the same height as these women.

"This is my daughter Romilly," her mum pointed to her.

"Nice to meet you," Kate held out her hand and Romilly shook it reluctantly. "You're really pretty," she smiled – leading her into a false sense of security?

"Thank you," Romilly tucked a loose, dark brown curl behind her ear.

"How are your studies Romilly?" Victoria asked as they peered at their menus.

"Great," Romilly smiled and leaned back in her seat. "How are you both?"

Lunch went off smoothly, her mother entertaining the two women in a way Romilly would never be able to. Her mother was an extrovert and she was an introvert, mother and daughter contrasting each other easily. "Romilly is never usually a social creature," she heard her mother as she sipped her tea, "And now she has a new friend who is a criminal!"

Alert, Romilly's eyes widened. "Who?" Kate asked in interest, "I remember what it was like to want the bad boy." She winked at Romilly, "He's good to have fun with, am I right?"

"Uh…" she bit her lip.

"Romilly told me she and Derek Hale are not together," her mum sighed, "But I'm still so worried for her."

 _Derek Hale,_ the name immediately left the two women on high alert. Her mother didn't notice because she didn't have to be aware of such things, but she knew that the two women would be keeping a closer eye on her. She needed to deflect, "He lost his sister." She shrugged, "I like befriending people who need help." That much was true.

Kate looked down at her watch on her wrist and stood suddenly, "I'm sorry I just forgot." She pulled her bag over her shoulder, "I have a meeting. Can we do this another time?"

"Sure," her mum smiled and waved her off. "It was nice to meet you."

"You too," Kate looked directly at Romilly, "And it was nice to meet you too _Romilly._ "

Her entire body stiffened as Kate turned and left, she pulled out her phone warning Derek to be careful. Damn it, her mum had opened her mouth and told them who she was friends with. Now they'd suspect her of being like him or they would attempt to at least get to him through her. She needed to be extra careful now, she knew her mum didn't appreciate her being distracted through lunch but she couldn't help it. As soon as she'd gulped down her meal, she stood and threw her own bag over her shoulder.

"Mum," she bent down and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry I need to go," she nodded at Victoria, "See you next time!"

"Romilly wait!" Her mum yelled after her as Romilly disappeared around the side of the building.

She took off running toward the Hale house, Derek was an idiot for squatting there since it held so many bad memories but she kind of got it. Her legs pumped as she dashed through the forest, determined to check on him to make sure Kate hadn't killed him – or worse. Her bag whipped against her body as she ran, ducking passed low hanging branches and moving around trees that were in her way. The Hale house had been committed to her memory, she knew exactly where it was and she was coming close to it.

Too focused on heading to the house, she didn't notice Derek running toward her. He was too busy looked back as he was trying to escape from his memories and Kate Argent. He turned his head but he was too late to stop himself or to stop Romilly. Their bodies met with a loud smack, Romilly fell backwards and Derek dropped to the side. She rubbed her nose that was gushing with blood after smacking into his hard chest and he was rubbing his ribs. He had just been electrocuted and though it had started to heal, he was still sensitive.

"What?" She groaned and rubbed her forehead with her other hand, standing up. "Oh!" Her eyes widened as she scrambled to her feet, "Derek!"

He sat up and glared at her, "What the hell were you doing?"

She smiled sheepishly, yet it looked rather repulsive as blood was dripping down her nose and catching in her mouth. "Sorry," she winced and looked down at her hand that was covered in blood. "I messaged you; my mum took us to lunch with Kate and Victoria Argent. Mum mentioned you and then Kate said she had to leave, I was worried she got you."

Her nose healed and the blood stopped, Derek wiped off the blood that had appeared on his chest from her nose. "I don't have my phone on me," he studied her, "She got me."

"Are you okay?" Romilly leaned forward as if to comfort him.

"I'm fine," he moved away from her hands. "They didn't kill my sister."

"Who?"

"The hunters," he rolled his eyes.

"I thought we'd already decided that," she furrowed her eyebrows. "The Alpha did it… didn't he? To gain your sister's powers."

Derek growled under his breath, "I just wanted to make sure."

Standing up, Romilly held out her arm to try and held him up. He ignored her hand and stood up himself, "What should we do now?" She then looked at her blood covered hands, "Perhaps I should wash this blood off first. Mum will freak out if I come home covered in blood."

She was very positive, happy… it somewhat ticked him off. Romilly was kind of like a puppy, and annoying like one too. "You do that," Derek turned to look toward the direction of his home; it wasn't safe he knew but it was the only place he could stay.

Frowning, Romilly crossed her arms over her chest. She looked ridiculous, blood drops on her top, blood on her hands, her mouth and nose smeared with blood. But she wasn't taking Derek's crap or his intimidation, "Why are you being like this?" She demanded, "You're so… so _cold_. I get it I do but you need to…" she rolled her eyes, "I'm going home."

Derek watched as she left through the trees, running as fast as she could home. Luckily she made it there before her mum got there, she had enough time to change her shirt and clean off the blood before heading into the lounge room. Her mum came through the door and grinned at her. In her mum's arms were a lot of bags, she immediately slipped off the couch to help her mum.

"Thanks Milly," she nodded toward the garage door, "There are more in the garage."

Inside the garage, she collected the shopping and entered the house again. Her mum had opened the pantry and had begun putting things inside, bending down as Romilly began to pull things out of the bag. It honestly felt like such a mundane task compared to what she had been facing lately. She wondered how Scott was taking it, he was nowhere near finishing high school yet but his world had been turned upside down. Leaning her hip against the bench, she handed her mum the tomato sauce and stretched her arms above her head, yawning.

"I'm sorry Milly," her mum snapped, "Is this boring for you?"

"No mum," she answered, "I'm fine. Just a little tired. So what happened with Victoria after I left?"

"She's such a nice woman," she smiled, "I think we'll be close with the Argent family."

Romilly stiffened and paled, _no, not gonna happen._ It was a risk to get close to that family, especially since they were hunters. She rubbed the back of her neck with one of her hands, how did she tell her mum she wanted nothing to do with them? Her mother wouldn't understand she'd tell her she was being an idiot and laugh. Crossing her arms over her chest, Romilly watched as her mother grabbed out a bottle of wine from the cupboard and opened it.

"Can you get me some ice?" Her mum asked, "Do you want some?"

"Mum I can't drink here," she reminded her mother.

"You're nineteen, before we moved here a couple of months ago you'd been drinking for a year." Her mother reminded her, "What they don't know won't hurt them."

"I'm fine," she also didn't know how drinking would impact her as a werewolf. Would she lose it and turn? She didn't want her family to know that she was, in fact, a werewolf.

"Alright," her mum smiled and grabbed the glass of wine, heading toward the back door. Romilly's eyes widened as the memory of the night when the Alpha had charged toward her flashed across her mind. Clenching her hands into fists, she strode after her mother – there was no way the Alpha would attack her when it was still daylight. Though he had killed that man in the video store… who knew what he would do to her?

"I'm glad we moved here," her mum smiled as she sat at the back table, grabbing out a packet of smokes.

"Mum!" She cried out in disbelief, "I thought you quit!"

"Lincoln and Allegra think I've quit," she held up her finger to her lips, "Stay quiet about it. I only have one or so when I'm feeling a little stressed out, and all these murders are quite stressful."

Rolling her eyes, Romilly leaned back in her seat. "And are you seriously glad we've moved here?" She snorted, "We've had to pay so much money for my university, if you had just…"

"How is that going by the way?" Her mum asked, "Are you concentrating on your studies?"

"Of course I am," she pursed her lips, "But-"

"Good," her mum cut her off and lit up her cigarette, "I was worried. You are friends with a criminal; I wasn't sure how that would affect your grades."

"He's not a-"

"And I want you to be the best forensic scientist that you can be," her mum studied her, "But don't you have to go to a lab?" She nodded, "Well we'll buy you a car, we can certainly afford it and you clearly know the road rules are completely different here in the US."

"You don't have to buy me a car," she protested, "Please mum. Help me get a job, I can save up and get my own car."

"Alright," her mum stroked her chin. "What if you work as a receptionist at the hospital, or the station? Sheriff Stilinski is sure to know the places around town that would hire you."

"When did we get connections?" Romilly suddenly asked, "Now it seems like we've turned into the average, middle class white family." _Complete with the antisocial, supernatural teenager._

"I know this life is different…" her mum trailed off, "But try to adjust. I suppose this is why Lincoln wanted to move us here years ago."

"Lincoln wanted to move us here years ago because he didn't trust dad." She rolled her eyes, "And even after dad died all those years ago I was still around his family and so were you. Lincoln hated the fact that we came from that."

"But he doesn't hold it against you," her mum reminded her.

"Yeah."

He didn't hold it against her, but she had her suspicions he worried she'd fly off the handle. Allegra was fine; both her parents came from stable parents who were together. Her mum had only changed when she had met Romilly's father, a risk taker and bad boy. Her face paled, did they think she was turning into her mum and Derek was that guy? It was completely different to her mum, there was no drugs and gang violence – it was supernatural violence. The difference was by far frightening and nothing in life could ever prepare someone for such a thing.

"Mum," she began slowly and the woman looked toward her. Her mum's hazel eyes looked green in the sunlight and they were heavy from work and the alcohol quickly affecting her system. The poor woman was a lightweight, "You know I'm not getting into trouble, right? You can trust me."

"Of course I know that," her mum smiled and leaned across, squeezing her hand. "You're a good girl Romilly, the best."

"Thanks mum," she stretched her arms above her head, "I'm gonna head to my room."

"Wait!" Her mum stood her glass empty. "Come with me," her mum wrapped her hand around Romilly's wrist and pulled her inside, grabbing out some files. "Do you think you can take these to Sheriff Stilinski? I've had some wine now and I'm not fit to drive, I completely forgot I had to give them to him."

"Sure mum," she took the files slowly from her mum. "You have a rest, I'll be back soon." She grabbed the keys and her phone, heading into the garage. The door opened slowly and soon she was on her way toward the Stilinski house, though she struggled to remember the exact directions her mum had given her. But when she rolled up to the curb and spotted the old Jeep, she curled her hands around the steering wheel to regain her bearings.

Would Stiles say _anything?_

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 **honestly this was one of my favourite chapters to write. enjoy, also thank you all for the follows/reviews/favourites - and it is unedited. have a good week xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hesitantly,** she raised her hand to knock on the wood door of the Stilinski house. It was strange, American houses didn't have fly screen doors like they did in Australia. It was also a weird thing to think of when she was meant to be handing the sheriff important files that her mother told her to give him. The door opened revealing Stiles who stood their looking buzzed, she was sure that he had to be taking something to keep himself going all the time.

"You," he pointed at her, "You're the…" he looked behind him and lowered his voice, " _Other werewolf._ "

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes; she would've thought he'd gotten over it by now. But both he and Scott found opportunities to be suspicious of Derek, so why not her? Though she had been turned the same night as Scott, which still made her untrustworthy in their eyes – the idiots. "Yeah," she held out the files and shoved them toward him, "These are for your dad, from my mum because they work together."

"Huh," he took the files from her slowly, as if he was afraid any sudden movement and she'd attack him. "Well thanks…" he eyed her suspiciously, "What else do you want?"

"Nothing," she shoved her hands into her pockets. "But," she furrowed her brow, "You and Scott may want to keep your accusations to yourselves, I'm just a much a victim as Scott is."

"Right," Stiles began to close the door, "See ya."

"Stiles!" Someone yelled from the inside, "Who is it?"

"No one dad!" Stiles yelled back and narrowed his eyes on Romilly, he then slammed the door.

"Idiot," she rolled her eyes and headed toward her mum's car. She slid into the leather interior and started it up, zooming toward home.

How long had it been since Derek had contacted her? Days, she was a little concerned. Mostly due to the fact that the Alpha was lying low too, it could mean anything. But she highly doubted Derek had switched sides, he wasn't that type of guy – and the evil bastard had killed his sister. Maybe he was finally mourning her, giving himself a chance to realise that he was _hurt_. But something told her that Derek would bury the pain and probably never deal with it – he was emotionally stunted.

A thump had Romilly jumping; she turned as Allegra sat on the floor rubbing her shin. "Ow," she whined, "I can't be injured."

"Why not?" She asked her sister, continuing to grab out the milk.

"I'm doing karate Romy," Allegra hissed and stood. She stood on one leg, instantly wincing when she put weight on her hurt leg after lowering it to the ground. "Getting injured is a bad idea."

"Probably," she agreed, "Do you want a hot chocolate or not?"

"Of course I do," the girl slid into a stool in front of her. "I came down stairs didn't I?" She brushed her wavy, loose brown hair over her shoulder.

Romilly bent down and grabbed out two mugs, a pale polka-dotted blue one and a plain pale green one. They tapped against the bench as they were placed flat, Romilly headed toward the pantry and grabbed out everything she would need. She flicked on the kettle and leaned against the bench, pulling out her phone as she flicked mindlessly through her Facebook. All her high school friends were enjoying life at university, it made her almost _sad_. Though she wouldn't have called them friends – more like acquaintances as she could never get close to anyone.

Loud knocking was heard from the front door and Romilly looked toward her sister, "Can you get that Leg?"

" _Fine_ ," Allegra complained as she stood up from the couch and stomped dramatically toward the doorway.

Rolling her eyes, Romilly tapped her fingers impatiently and waited for the water to boil. She headed toward the bathroom and went to the toilet, as she washed her hands she wondered where her sister was. So she wiped her hands on the back of her shirt after washing them and headed down the hallway toward the front door.

"Allegra?" She called out in worry, hoping the Alpha had not grabbed her sister.

Instead she found Allegra standing there, staring up at Derek unblinkingly. Derek was staring back at her, Romilly was worried her sister was challenging him. So she stepped forward and shoved her sister out of the way. Allegra was still a little shorter than her but that would probably change soon, Lincoln was very tall.

"Derek," she frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"I need you to come with me," he growled but didn't look away from her sister.

"Okay," she grabbed her jacket that was hanging on the coat rack and began to move forward. He stepped out of the way as she wrapped her hand around the door handle, beginning to close it.

"Wait!" Allegra cried, "Where are you going?"

She had thrown her arm out to stop the door shutting; her strength was no match for Romilly's. She knew she could easily slam the door but it would be a risk to hurt her younger sister. "To help Derek," she leaned down to look at her sister, "You stay here. I'm sorry Leg, don't wait up." She reached out and ruffled her sister's hair; Allegra immediately scowled and shoved her hands away.

It left Romilly able to shut the door quickly and turn expectantly to Derek. "What?" He grunted and headed straight toward his car.

"What do you want?" She demanded and pulled her jacket over her body. It wasn't really cold, she could stand it but it was better to be safe than sorry. Her legs were also bare; she wore high waisted shorts that were cut off and frayed at her upper thigh. "Where are we going?" She narrowed her eyes as she opened the passenger seat, he didn't bother to answer he only slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut.

"To the vets," he answered sharply.

"What?" She cried out, "Why?" Whipping her head around, she turned toward the backseat trying to spot an animal but the backseat was clear.

"He's the Alpha," Derek snarled.

"The _vet_ is the Alpha?" She asked in disbelief, "No way!"

Derek turned his head to look at her sharply, "Do not question me."

"Of course not," she scoffed, "You should've been the bloody Alpha."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the car and her eyes turned to look up at him curiously. Derek shifted in his seat, his hands curled around the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white and she suspected he could tear it off if he wanted to. Romilly sat quietly, chewing on her bottom lip as they drove further through town. She hadn't been to the vets since the night Derek had almost died and it was so far from her house.

"School is almost out," she commented, her eyes focused on the time on the dashboard. "We don't have much time."

"I _know_ ," Derek growled and she could almost taste his anger on her tongue, it was that thick in the air.

They pulled to a stop outside the vet, Derek parking sharply and immediately storming out of the car. "Wait!" She cried as she shoved open the door, "You can't face the Alpha _alone_." Her nostrils flared in anger, how could he be such an idiot?

The sky was darkening; dusk was beginning to settle over Beacon Hills. Romilly hadn't realised how dark it had been when she'd left, by now her parents would be home and they'd probably be mad. But how was she supposed to explain this sort of thing to her mother? The woman would never understand, they'd probably think she was mad and send her back to Australia. While she might have wanted that before her turn, she'd never survive as an omega.

A bell rang as they opened the door, stepping into the veterinary clinic. "Scott," a man's voice called from inside, "You're late again. I hope this isn't getting to be a habit." Derek moved to the doorway and Romilly stood behind him as the man pushed himself off the table and turned to them, "Can I help you?"

"I hope so," Derek replied, "I want to know about the animal you found with the spiral on its side?"

The vet looked rather confused; Romilly supposed he was a good actor. "Excuse me?" The man asked, "What animal?" His arms crossed as a defensive mechanism.

"Three months ago," Derek replied, "The deer." He pulled out a piece of paper she had not noticed her had been holding and held it up, on it was a deer laying lifeless in the grass with a spiral carved into the side. "You remember this?"

"Oh yes," the vet pointed, "It's just a deer, and I didn't find it. They called me because they wanted to know if I'd ever seen anything like it." His explanation sounded convincing but Romilly had a feeling she wouldn't be able to trust him – especially if he was the Alpha.

"What'd you tell 'em?" Derek demanded, still holding up the paper.

"I told them no," he appeared nervous; his eyes shifted from the paper, Romilly and then back to Derek.

Scrunching up the paper, Derek began to move forward. "Did you hear that?"

The vet began to move back, "Hear what?"

"The sound of your heartbeat rising," Derek answered calmly but it was laced with a threat. Romilly hadn't even picked up on it, she'd been too preoccupied by her thoughts.

"Excuse me?" The vet looked rather confused.

"It's the sound of you lying," Derek's nostrils flared and he immediately reached across the table. The vet was lifted across and slammed into the table.

"Derek!" Romilly had to let out a small yell, shocked at his violence.

But Derek threw one punch to the man's left cheek and the man was knocked out. "Help me tie him up," Derek grunted and she scrambled to obey. "Are you protecting someone?" Derek asked from the shadows.

"Alright," the vet suddenly became compliant. Her heart filled with hope, was this the man who wanted to kill her? "The key to the drug locker is in my pocket."

"I don't want drugs!" Derek hissed and moved forward, grasping the man's shoulder and snarling into his ear. "I want to know why you're lying."

"Tell us," Romilly suddenly snarled, curling her lip as her eyes flashed molten gold.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man gasped in fear. Derek spun the man's chair around and lifted it into the air, "What are you doing to me? What do you want?"

Derek growled, "I want to know who you are or who you're protecting!"

"What are you doing?" A voice yelled from the doorway and Romilly spun around, the young wolf by the name of Scott flicked the light on.

"Scott, get out of here!" The vet yelled over his shoulder in fear.

Derek dropped the man and threw a punch, knocking him out. Scott brushed passed Romilly, sending her stumbling against the locker. "Stop! Stop!"

"Look when he's conscious he can keep himself from healing, but unconscious, he can't." Derek informed a protective Scott, his anger apparent.

"Are you out of your mind?" Scott yelled, "What are you talking about?"

"You want to know what the spiral means Scott?" Derek was fierce, "It's our sign, for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied."

"This man's the Alpha!" Romilly yelled, echoing the agreement that Derek was alluding to.

"You think he's the Alpha?" Scott asked incredulously.

"We're about to find out," Derek moved his hand, his claws suddenly grew.

Scott reached out with a snarl, suddenly shifted into his wolf form. His eyes glowed as he lowered Derek's hand, who stepped away in shock. Romilly was a little shocked herself; she had thought the kid had been rejecting any sort of teaching from Derek. The kid walked around behind the unconscious vet, slowly the hair on his face began to recede. His claws disappeared and soon he was left as normal as he had looked coming into the clinic.

"Hit him again," Scott's voice was low. He attempted to be threatening, "And you'll see me get angry."

Any other person and she would have laughed, but the situation was serious. Scott began to find materials to help the man heal, sponging cotton material against the man's cheek. "Do you have a plan?" Derek asked impatient clear from his pacing.

"Give me an hour," Scott struggled to find an excuse.

"Then what?"

"Meet me at the school," he explained, "In the parking lot."

Derek moved away and nodded at Romilly, "Let's go."

She sent one last look to Scott and the vet, frowning and heading out of the clinic after Derek. She had been sure that the man was the Alpha. However, Derek headed back inside as she slid into the back seat of the car and he came out with the vet in his arms, he shoved him into the back seat, duct tape over his mouth. She frowned and turned to look up at him as he opened the driver's seat, turning on the ignition.

"Why?"

"Shut up," he barked and she scowled, clenching her hands into fists.

They pulled up to the school, already Scott and Stiles were there. Stiles was holding a tool in his hand as Derek pulled up to a stop, "Where's my boss?" She heard him ask as Derek opened his door and stepped out.

"In the back," Derek explained as both boys leaned over to stare at the vet in the back seat.

"Oh," she heard Stiles begin sarcastically. "He looks comfortable."

Romilly opened her door and rolled her eyes, "Do you think we were going to treat the Alpha to the luxury of comfort?" She slammed the car door, earning her a scowl from Derek.

"I should've known you were here," Stiles eyed her suspiciously as Scott hit his back and headed toward the school.

"Wait. Hey," Derek called, "What are you doing?"

Scott turned to face the two of them, "You said I was linked to the Alpha. I'm gonna see if you're right."

"What does he mean?" She asked Derek, her voice below a whisper.

"He's going to howl," Derek explained, "Draw the Alpha toward us."

Romilly felt her stomach drop, "Should we kill him now?"

Derek looked toward the vet who was lying in the back of his car, "Give him this."

"Is it a trust exercise?" She asked with a scowl, "Let him come to you, prove that you're right so he'll have to believe you."

He looked down at her, blinking slowly. "Just shut up," he nudged her shoulder as he walked passed her to lean against the back of Stiles's Jeep.

In front of him, she folded her arms in front of her chest and waited impatiently. Her foot tapped on the bitumen that covered the school car park, her heart thundered inside of her chest. Was it wrong to admit she was nervous? Her entire body shivered as a chill crossed the wide open space. She looked toward the forest that surrounded the school, what if the vet wasn't the Alpha? Did that mean the Alpha had been stalking them? Just waiting… watching…

A shrill howl interrupted her thoughts and her ears rang, she couldn't help but let out a laugh of disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me," Derek even released a breath, could that be considered a laugh from the emotionless man?

"He's an idiot," she couldn't help but laugh, releasing her arms from the fold and pressing them to her stomach.

Seconds passed and a howl shattered the inside of her. Her body straightened and she became alert, the windows of the school began to shake as she looked toward the school. _She_ wanted to go to Scott, she felt that urge deep inside of her and Derek had to wrap a hand around her arm to stop her. Her body shook, Derek keeping her in place. Were the two of them connected due to the Alpha biting both of them?

"I'm going to kill both of you," Derek pointed at them. "What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"

"Sorry I didn't know it would be that loud," it was a half-hearted apology from Scott who was grinning.

"Yeah it was loud," Stiles agreed, "And it was _awesome_." He basically sang the word and Romilly had to grin, he was a complete idiot sometimes.

"Shut up." Derek's voice was hard.

"Don't be such a sour-wolf," Stiles told him off and Romilly grinned, she liked that nickname.

"What'd you do with him?" Scott suddenly asked.

"Do with who?" Romilly asked at the same time Derek asked,

"What?" Derek turned to look at the car and then back at them, "I didn't do anything."

Romilly turned to look at Derek's car; the door was open and no one inside. "He was the Alpha!" Romilly suddenly yelled.

Feeling warm breath on the back of her neck, she was almost afraid to turn around. However, when Derek was lifted into the air she knew something was wrong. A scream erupted from her mouth, loud enough to almost shatter windows. Blood began pouring from his mouth as the boys began to move, Romilly continued screaming as the Alpha threw Derek against the wall of the school. He landed in a heap of leaves; she stared up at the looming creature.

Tears began to pool in her eyes, she was facing her death. The red eyes gazed at her as she continued to scream, however her scream was cut off as the Alpha lunged toward her. Claws sliced across her neck and blood began to pool, the last thing she felt was being thrown against a wall and landing on something soft before her eyes shut.

* * *

 **holy shit I'm so sorry, I didn't like mean to like forget about this but I had a few things going on. So here you go, you'll definitely get a chapter on Monday but here you go. I am so sorry, but it isn't editted still enjoy.**

 **Also I have to warn you guys I'm kind of stuck writing chapter 26 and I've not been writing for a while. I'll get back to this probably after Christmas.**

 **Thank you, enjoy your week x**


	10. Chapter 10

" **Don't move,"** were the first words Romilly heard when she gained consciousness. Her head was pounding, her throat throbbed and her entire body ached. Immediately fear froze any movement she had been about to make, did the Alpha have her? Fear clutched her and she didn't move, keeping her eyes closed. She didn't want to alert him to her presence, could he tell she was awake? Hoping not, she opened one eye to see a blurry figure peering over her and she flinched, "Romilly." The voice was familiar, "The Alpha hurt you, you've healed but it will take time to recover."

Opening her other eye, she gasped but it tore through her throat and she almost winced. Derek loomed over her and he didn't look in the least bit injured, he had on another shirt and was completely fine. He handed her a glass of water and helped her sit up. If she had healed, why did she still feel like hell? She drank the water slowly, the cool liquid soothing her throat as she looked up at Derek through her dark eyes, narrowing.

"W-what happened?" Her voice was raspy and her eyes widened, she had her throat slashed open by the Alpha. Her hand flew to her throat as she touched it. She'd healed so _fast_.

"You know," he rolled his eyes. "I recovered enough to move you."

She pushed herself up, her bones aching, "How long has it been?"

"Twelve hours," he announced and looked toward the broken window. They were inside the Hale house that much was clear. The smell of ash tickled her nose, enough to make it curl. The sun was up too, shining into the room.

"Where are Stiles and Scott?" She expected to see the two boys, but they were nowhere to be found.

"They ran," Derek sniffed and leaned over, lifting up her chin to glance at her throat. "It's just a scratch now; try not to speak too much."

Grimacing, she rubbed her neck, touching the scab. It was thin, as if it had been a scratch from a cat or something sharp had just brushed passed her neck. No one would have been able to tell it was a wound so deep she could've died; she guessed she could've died. She didn't really know and Derek didn't seem to be in the mood for talking. He stood and flexed his shoulders, the sun catching his muscles under his white shirt and the idiot in her could've swooned. Why hadn't she noticed Derek was so _hot?_

Maybe it was because most of the time she was a lost puppy, following him around because he was the only one who knew what he was doing. The other half of the time they were in life or death situations, or he was torturing someone. It probably wasn't the right time to check someone out when they were torturing someone. Her eyes widened, so did that mean the vet was the Alpha? She hoped not, if he was she was going to flip.

"So what happened?"

Derek glared at her, "I don't know."

"Fine," she coughed, groaning when her throat ached. She found herself staring at a bottle of water, "Thank you…" she trailed off warily.

"Welcome," he grunted and turned his back to her. "There's food on your right."

True enough there was a plastic cup of steaming chicken noodles. Her stomach growled and she snatched it up, and didn't even care about the burning as she ate it. Her stomach didn't fill; she looked disappointedly at her empty noodles with a scowl. She looked up at Derek who rolled his eyes, handing her another cup of noodles. She gulped that one up and even had a bread roll her had pulled out for her. Her stomach stopped growling but she wasn't full, she was fine.

"So what happened with the Alpha?" She asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "We spent these passed hours healing, I couldn't tell you."

"Great," she muttered. "Does that mean we've gotta slaughter the vet?"

Derek glanced at her, his voice dry. "No."

"Fine," she sighed. Her throat was better and her body didn't ache any longer, "So what happens now?"

"You go home," he answered, not wanting to deal with her any longer. Derek was a man who liked his solitude and Romilly impeded on that, and she had since she had been bitten.

"I can't go home yet," she answered. "Not until I'm fine, mum will get suspicious." She glanced down at herself, "And I certainly can't go home covered in blood." Something soft covered her vision; she pulled it away and glanced down at it. The shirt was black and large, "And mum would get suspicious if I went home in a guy's shirt."

Derek narrowed his eyes, "Put that on."

"Fine," she groaned and slipped the blanket off. "But get out," she motioned toward the arch where the door had once stood but had obviously burnt to a crisp.

Standing, Derek left the room and she was quick to pull on the shirt. Her jeans were black and though they had drops off blood, no one could tell with the darkness of the colour. She ran her fingers through her hair to get rid of the knots, giving up and throwing it into a bun. She headed out the door, her feet bare as she walked on the surprisingly stable flooring. The house must've been beautiful once; it had a sturdy frame that left it strong even after it had been destroyed.

Derek was standing on the bottom floor, arms crossed as he peered out the broken window. "What is it?" She asked as she moved behind him, "The Alpha?"

"No," Derek shook his head. "The cops have been scouring the forest for hours."

"What for?"

"For me," he answered, snapping his teeth. "Scott and Stiles told them it was me. I kidnapped you and tried to kill them, murdering all the others."

"What!?" She cried out, flabbergasted. "Idiots!" She yelled, "Why the hell are they such idiots!?"

Derek didn't answer, his face remained passive and that was what she could not understand. She was angered at the stupidity of the two of them, Derek was trying to help. Her hands clenched into fists as she turned away from Derek, her fingernails digging into the palm of her hands. She was going to have a talk to the two of them when she could, sort them out. Derek was not the bad guy; they had a mutual enemy – the Alpha.

"Romilly," Derek's voice commanded attention as she turned to him.

"What?" Her tone was rather rude and her mum would've called her out on it. Derek didn't say anything however, he didn't even appear displeased.

"You should go home," he answered. "I need to disappear, so the police do not find me."

"What if they find me?"

"Stick with the story," she was confused, "About the kidnapping."

"No way!" She cried out, shaking her head in denial. "I'm not about to tell them you kidnapped me, idiot."

Scowling, Derek turned to her, "It is the easiest way."

"No," she shook her head. "I won't lie and I won't make you a bad person. Stiles and Scott may feel comfortable doing that but I'm not."

"Well go," he moved closer to the window, staring out at it. "The police are drawing closer."

"Fine," she answered and was led to the back door. She was rather surprised it was still standing, but slipped out and was immediately engulfed by the forest. She didn't bother to look back; she knew that Derek wouldn't appreciate it. She began to run, her body healed by the time she had been led outside. Her legs pounded as she ran as fast as she could, using her instincts to avoid anything that was living. Derek was not guilty.

So she made a detour, heading toward the Stilinski house. She scoured the side of the roof, slipping into Stiles's window. "What the hell!?" He shouted, spinning around on his computer desk to stare at her.

"So Derek's the murderer?" Her eyebrows rose, "And he kidnapped me? Creative, I've got to give you two props for figuring that out."

"How are you still alive?" Stiles's eyes widened.

"This thing could healing," she motioned to her neck, "Werewolf style." She placed her hands on her hips, "Derek saved me. He wants to help and you idiots go ahead and lie?" She clicked her tongue, "You two are some sort of scum."

Stiles's cheeks flashed, "We didn't-"

Holding up her hand, she interrupted him. "I don't care for excuses," her eyes narrowed, "But just know, if either of you screw up again or paint Derek in a bad light – I'll come for you." In a dramatic flair, she turned on her heal and vanished out the window. Derek probably wouldn't appreciate her sticking up for him, but she had to do it. She had to protect him, strangely enough.

Her home stood tall and proud, she immediately entered the front door only to hear a shriek. "Romilly!" Her stepfather yelled and she was pulled into his large, strong embrace.

"Is it truly?" Her mother cried and she was engulfed in a fierce hug by her mother, one that could possibly shatter bones. "We thought Derek killed you!"

"He didn't kidnap me," Romilly denied.

"Shh," her mum reached out and smoothed out the baby hairs that surrounded her hairline. "Come on, sit down."

Romilly was led to the couch and Allegra hurried down the stairs, "You're safe!" She cried and launched herself at her sister, squeezing Romilly tightly. The girls had never had such a close relationship, Romilly was a little surprised.

"Let me call Sheriff Stilinski," Lincoln muttered to her mother, leaning down to kiss her temple.

"Alright," her mum hurried and sat on the other side of Romilly. Her mum clasped her hand in a tight embrace, "We were so worried honey."

"I'm fine mum," she furrowed her eyebrows. Who knew her family would have been so worried? Her ears pricked up at the conversation Lincoln was having with the Sheriff. She turned her head slightly, frowning when she heard Lincoln agree to the man coming to their house. They were trying to make Derek the guilty one and it irritated her, they had bigger problems than Derek Hale.

But she couldn't exactly tell her family that, so she constantly told them Derek did not kidnap her or murder those people. They seemed to be too busy trying to take care of her, so she let herself humour them. She accepted the food they gave her, the tea and the water. Allegra had gotten over the shock of Romilly returning and was surfing through the TV channels. Her mother was constantly chattering and Lincoln seemed to be holding the fort, waiting for the sheriff to arrive.

When Sheriff Stilinski did arrive, her brought with him only himself. He entered the house, "Hello Lincoln," he nodded at her father and then nodded at her mother. "Is everything alright Joy?"

"She's fine," her mother gasped, "Thank god."

"Mum," Romilly rolled her eyes and stood from the couch. Allegra looked up at her and leaned over the couch, ready to hear whatever they were about to say about Romilly. "I'm _fine_ and I wasn't kidnapped."

"I'll be the judge of that," Sheriff Stilinski eyed her, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Derek and I were drinking," she winced. She forgot that nineteen was too young to be drinking in the US. "I had a bit too much and he let me sleep over, nothing happened. I forgot to tell you both," she looked over at Lincoln and her mum.

The Sheriff seemed to let the drinking slide, but studied her suspiciously. "So why did my son and his friend tell me that Derek Hale is the murderer and he kidnapped you?"

"Because they're kids," she explained, "Too many horror movies. They obviously saw Derek carrying me to his car. He's not a bad guy."

Sheriff Stilinski didn't look convinced, "Are you in love with Derek Hale?"

"W-what?" She spluttered, shocked at the answer. "No way!" She cried in denial, _love_ Derek? She wasn't even sure the guy was her friend, he was her teacher. They were pack; well they would be – if they could kill the Alpha.

Raising an eyebrow, the Sheriff nodded his head slowly. "Why do you ask that?" Allegra suddenly asked, peering over the couch.

"Because she could be protecting him," the Sheriff informed her younger sister.

"Ah," Allegra nodded her head slowly. "Right… okay." She turned back around, watching the television as Romilly curled her hands into fists.

"Look," she tried to remain calm. "I am not in love with Derek Hale and I am not protecting him. He's innocent, there's a real criminal out there!" She cried, "You're pointing your fingers at the wrong man!"

Pursing his lips, the Sheriff nodded. "Thank you," he then looked at Romilly. "If you have any other information, contact me."

Scowling, she would do nothing of the sort. Instead, she turned away from him and headed up the stairs. "Sorry about her…" she heard her mother try to make excuses for her and it angered her. How could they be so blind? She wanted to tell them everything, how she was a werewolf and the one doing the killings was a werewolf. They'd think she was crazy or delusional or her imagination was running wild. So she would have to do nothing but quietly stew, making sure that the only person she talked to about anything werewolf related was Derek.

A knock on her door had her turning her head toward the knocker. Allegra was standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. "I grew up while you were gone," Allegra informed her sister, "I'm finally a woman."

Romilly snorted, "Your first period came?"

Her sister nodded proudly, "You missed it." She pouted, "I wanted my big sister to explain everything to me. Mum tried to; did she fail so badly explain it to you?"

"No," Romilly answered. "But one of us wasn't missing. You were six though, and I was twelve."

Allegra nodded her head slowly and moved to sit by Romilly's window. "So do you have feelings for Derek?" Allegra asked, "He's cute."

Throwing a pillow at her sister, Romilly laughed. "He's too emotionally constipated for me." She shrugged, though she had to agree he was attractive. "I don't see myself growing feelings for him, why?"

"Because you spend all your time together," Allegra rolled her eyes. "One of my friends said he had to be your boyfriend."

"Well he's not," Romilly began rummaging through her wardrobe. She'd shower after Allegra left her alone.

"How come you never had a boyfriend?" Allegra asked and Romilly froze her hand around a jumper. She turned her head to look at her sister, "You never even had a date for the ball."

That was a touchy subject with Romilly; she wasn't sure why she had never dated. She'd had friends who had boyfriends, could get a new boyfriend but since she had her first boyfriend at twelve she'd never had another. It wasn't that she was unattractive, because she wasn't, there was just something about the boys in her high school – none of them were even interested in her. So she didn't know how to describe that to her sister, what would she even say?

"I don't know," she decided to answer honestly, "Maybe I'm not as pretty as you are."

"Shut up," Allegra rolled her eyes. "You're the prettiest."

This time it was Romilly to roll her eyes, "Don't start getting a complex and feeling insecure. You're beautiful Allegra."

"I know," her sister boasted. "And my accent is charming, I've already been asked out on dates but I rejected them."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not going to get a boyfriend until you do," Allegra stuck out her tongue and Romilly laughed.

Her sister might be waiting around for a long time, where would Romilly meet a guy she'd consider dating in the small town? She shook her head and leaned finished collecting her clothes. "Are you done now?" She asked her sister as she moved toward her bathroom, "Because I'm going to go have a shower."

"Yeah, we're done." Allegra smiled, "I think I'm going to have a birthday party this year."

"Yeah?" Romilly asked, "And invite who?"

"All my friends," Allegra grinned and darted out of her sister's room, shutting the door behind her. Romilly adored her little sister and the wolf in her recognised her as pack, even though she wasn't a werewolf. She pushed her hair out of her face and stepped in the shower, cleaning herself and shaving her legs and underarms. After washing her hair, she stepped out and wrapped a towel around her body. She left her curls to air dry after she combed them out and dressed, stepping into her bedroom.

She almost let out a scream, but she bit down on her tongue before she even bothered. Derek was standing by her window, watching the street. "You live near the Argents." It wasn't a greeting, Derek never did greetings.

"Yeah…" she frowned, "What's up?"

"There is a full moon coming," he turned to face her. "I expect you to be at the house that afternoon."

"When is it?" She asked.

Given the date, she promised she'd be there when the time came. "Do not let them know I am around," he told her.

"Who?" She furrowed her eyebrows, "I told my parents and the sheriff you aren't guilty."

Derek didn't answer, "Will you meet me on the full moon?"

"Of course I will," her cheeks suddenly flushed. "Just don't… leave me…" her voice was low. A werewolf that didn't rage… instead got lonely and tried to find her pack. It was embarrassing, but she couldn't help who she was.

"I promise," the words were out of Derek's mouth but as she looked up to thank him, he was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Despite it being the day of the full moon,** Romilly didn't feel dread. Inside there was a pull to find someone to look after her, just to be with someone. But she ignored it, instead working on her studies as she was supposed to be doing. Her mum had poked her head in before leaving for work and Romilly had pulled her mother into a hug. She hadn't let go, nuzzling her face into her mum's shoulder. Her mum had laughed at the ridiculousness of it, but humoured her.

Then the house had been left empty, they didn't even have an animal for companionship. She wasn't about to ask Derek either, he was an idiot. It was irrational but she had suddenly woke up with anger toward him and she didn't understand it. Even at the thought of him she wanted to find him and… _hit_ him. She was not a violent person and these violent thoughts worried her. So she tried not to think about Derek, even though it was hard. He was supposed to look after her when the moon was out later, what if she lashed out?

Gathering her belongings, Romilly headed down the stairs and opened her front door. She stepped back in shock; Kate Argent was standing on the front step. She lowered her raise hand and placed it behind her back. She leaned back on her hip, grinning as Romilly stared up at her. The woman was dangerous, even the way she smiled and moved screamed killer. It put Romilly on high alert, she clenched her hand around the door handle, her eyes widening.

"Uh hi," she gripped the handle of her bag. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come to lunch," the offer felt as if she was heading toward her doom. Romilly's chest felt tight, she sucked in a deep breath.

"Sure," she locked the door. "Where are we going?"

They went to the same café that they had lunch at days ago. Romilly ordered and waited in tense silence, watching Kate who sipped her black coffee. Was it like her soul? It had to be, the woman was cold. Romilly watched her, just waiting for Kate to suddenly reach out and attempt to attack her. But she wasn't sure that they knew she was a werewolf. Somehow she doubted they'd attack in broad daylight too, it would raise too many questions that they wouldn't want to answer.

"So what are you studying?" Kate asked, "What do you want to do when you leave college?"

"I want to be a forensic scientist or anthropologist," she answered. "Have you ever watched Bones?" She asked curiously, "I want to do what they do."

"Solve crimes by looking at dead bodies?" Kate asked with a disbelieving snort, "I guess you're smart then."

Romilly shrugged her shoulders, "What do you do?"

"This and that," Kate answered flippantly. But her eyes grew dangerous as she moved closer, "I do hunt."

"Hunt what?"

"Deer, game," she smirked. "It's all the fun, the chase… the _hunt_."

It sent shivers up Romilly's spine; the woman had to be a psychopath. "I don't hunt," Romilly scrunched up her nose, "I don't like it."

"Huh," Kate leaned back in her seat. She studied the young woman in front of her, eyes narrowed but shook her head when the food came.

They ate in silence, it left Romilly feeling paranoid. What if they could read minds? She winced, that was stupid. She'd have to ask Derek how they'd know if she was a werewolf or not. She looked toward the sky; she'd have to start heading to Derek's soon. The moon would rise later and she didn't want to be caught outside in a full moon, what if the hunters did manage to kill her? She didn't want to go like that; she didn't want the Argents to have the satisfaction of killing another person.

"Thank you for this," Romilly suddenly grabbed her bag. "But I need to go," she looked down at her phone to check the time.

Kate stood and smiled that slow smile that made Romilly feel like prey. "Of course," Kate motioned for her to leave. "Stay safe Romilly!" She suddenly called out and Romilly turned her head. Kate's eyes were sparkling with danger, "It's a full moon tonight!"

Other patrons turned their heads toward them, shaking their heads. Romilly immediately bent her head down and left, her heart thundering. Kate Argent was terrifying, Romilly hoped to avoid her for the rest of the woman's time in Beacon Hills. So Romilly hurried down the main street, just in case someone was following her. She turned down a secluded street and looked behind her; she breathed a sigh of relief when no one was following behind.

Heading into the forest, Romilly began heading toward the Hale House. She was early, really early as the moon wouldn't be out for a while but she was not going to risk suddenly turning on her way to his house. The house loomed over her, the sun causing her to step into the shadow of the house. It was rather creepy; she suspected it would be terrifying for any teenagers. She wondered if Derek spent his nights trying to scare away curious teenagers who wanted to know more about the creepy house in the forest.

"You're early," she jumped and spun around. Derek had been coming out of the forest behind her.

"Yeah…" she rubbed her throat. "Don't do that!" She suddenly exclaimed.

Derek didn't listen, he only walked passed her. "You smell like an Argent," he suddenly said, his nostrils flaring.

"I had lunch with Kate," she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I didn't think I could say no." Watching her closely, Derek finally nodded and began moving into the house. "She's terrifying," Romilly hurried after him, "I mean her vibes." She cringed, "She's a monster."

"Yes," Derek pressed one hand onto the side of his house. "I know."

They fell silent; Romilly wasn't really sure what to say after that. She rubbed her hands together and followed Derek inside, there were some chains and she grimaced. "Do you think I'll really need those?"

"I don't know," his answer was honest. He'd never had to train a werewolf like Romilly before, not one who didn't go into a rage – instead looked for pack. Well, he'd never had to train a werewolf; his mother had been the one to watch over them on full moons. After his mother had died in the fire, it had been Laura. By that time Derek had control, though his control had slipped after the murder of his family.

"I hope not," she said mostly to herself, nudging the chains with the toe of her shoes when she'd moved closer to them. "So what are we doing tonight?"

"I have to look out for Scott," Derek thought he'd tell her. Scott might reject his help most of the time but Scott needed him, which was why he had to make sure the kid didn't do anything stupid on the full moon.

Romilly nodded and sat down on the edge of the staircase. The piece she had torn off was missing, she snorted. "Can I go with you?"

Looking up, Derek studied her. "It depends on how you are," he answered. "If you don't have any control I'm chaining you up and leaving you behind."

"Fine," she twisted her mouth in displeasure. "But I promise you I won't lose control."

Derek didn't say anything, he only turned his back to her and she sighed. She'd left a note for her family on the fridge, telling them she wouldn't be home until later. They still hadn't gotten over the whole _Derek is a murdering kidnapper._ She honestly tried to persuade them that he was innocent but her family wouldn't have it, especially her stepdad. He would tense at any talk of Derek and would tell her off, snapping to make sure she shut her mouth.

"Derek," she scratched her exposed ankle as her jeans had lifted when she sat down. "What was it like growing up a werewolf?"

The man in question turned to face her, he furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"You were born," Romilly motioned toward him. "I was bitten and I don't have a pack. Well…" she rubbed the back of her neck. He'd be weirded out if she told him she thought of him as pack. "You had a pack," she offered.

Nodding, Derek crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. "Packs are very close," he answered, "A family unit. We had other people in the pack, humans… my mum was the Alpha. Talia Hale. My father took her last name out of respect, he was human after all."

"Did your father turn?"

"No," Derek shook his head. "He never wanted to and he was mum's anchor. He died when my younger sister Cora was five, I was eleven."

Romilly wrapped her arms around her shins, listening politely to Derek. "I lost my father too," she wasn't trying to take all the attention; she was trying to tell him she knew how it felt. "I understand."

He looked at her, "But then I lost all of my family."

"And then you did," she agreed, swallowing. "What will you do when you get rid of the Alpha?"

"Leave," he looked away from her. "There's nothing for me here."

That idea suddenly had Romilly struggling to breathe; she didn't want him to leave. He couldn't leave what would she do? She'd become an omega, he was her pack if he liked it or not. They had to find a proper Alpha together; they'd take Scott and go somewhere there was a real Alpha. She frowned, but her family was her pack too, she couldn't leave them. So how did one go about becoming an Alpha? Having no idea, she scratched her temple; one of them was going to have to become the Alpha.

"You can't _leave_ ," she suddenly scowled, "What will Scott and I do without you?"

He turned those green eyes toward her, "Survive."

"You've been a werewolf longer than the both of us," she reminded him. "You'll keep us safer than anyone. We can all be a pack."

"Without an Alpha?" He asked mockingly.

"Well _no_ ," she sighed. "One of us can become an Alpha…" she trailed off, "So how does that happen?"

Derek remained silent, his head turned as he remembered something. Romilly wasn't sure what he was remembering and she somehow doubted he'd tell her. "Get up," he motioned for her to stand, "The moon's going to appear soon."

"I know," she nodded, "I can feel it." She could, there was a vibration in her body, calling for the moon. It was pleasurable, she wanted to bask in the moonlight but then she felt the wolf in her head. It snarled, and she looked down. Her fingernails had become claws and as she looked up, her eyes were clouded.

"Are you angry?" Derek asked.

"A little," her voice came out as a rumble. "I don't know why."

Nodding his head, Derek picked up one of the chains. "I'm sorry, but you'll need to wear these."

"NO!" Her protest came out as a roar; she backed up the stairs away from the chains. "I'm not letting you lock me up.

"The Alpha could convince you to kill with him or what if you hurt someone?" He shook his head, "I'm not taking any chances."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat, "What are you going to do about Scott?" She asked as she shifted back, strange that she had that much under control. The sky was darkening, the sun beginning to lower in the sky.

"Get him," Derek chained her to the wall, tightening them up and looking down at her. She hoped one day she had enough control that she didn't need to be chained on a full moon.

Alone in the Hale house, Romilly threw back her head and let out a loud howl. Was it a dumb thing to do? Probably, but she was once again feeling the angst of loneliness. It curled up her gut, but she had enough control not to break out of her chains and hurry to find pack. Derek was too busy dealing with the ball of rage that was Scott McCall. She needed to find someone who would give her the answers, it didn't seem like Derek was willing to share _any_ of his knowledge.

Slipping out of her chains, both her hands broke and so did her ankles but they healed almost as quickly as they broke. They were tender and she winced, slowly walking out of the house. In the forest she began running, in fear of being caught by hunters or even the Alpha. Her heart thundered inside of her chest. She knew where Derek was, and Scott, and even her sister. She could pin point them, but she didn't need to be in their space. Instead she headed toward the vet, Dr Deaton knew so much more than he was letting on.

Stepping through the doors, the man turned to face her. His eyes widened, "Sorry about the other day." She apologised, "We needed answers."

He walked around the table, "You aren't going to attack me… are you?"

"Of course not," she scowled. "Are you the Alpha?"

"No," he denied, "I already told you."

"I know," she replied. "I just wanted to confirm it. But you know more than you are letting on Dr Deaton."

He tensed, "What do you mean?"

"You know about werewolves," she let her eyes flash gold. "And about the supernatural." She felt lethal, dangerous as she moved closer toward him. She was very aware she could lash out and kill him if she wanted to. "So tell me why I'm so lonely on a full moon."

His eyebrows furrowed as her demeanour changed. Instead of stalking him, she stopped and her face changed from one of determination to one of confusion. She looked cute rather than terrifying, like a puppy who was trying to learn. The vet couldn't let his guard down however, werewolves were natural predators. _But_ most of the time they were honest as their emotions ruled them rather than logic.

"What do you mean by lonely?" He asked. She would know that he knew about what she was and what was going on. She'd probably want to share it with Derek, but she deserved _some_ answers.

She sighed, leaning against one of the tables at the edge of the wall. "I don't know," she frowned. "I always have the urge to find someone, to be with them…" she shook her head. "I don't know how to describe it."

"Pack mates have different ranks," Deaton cleared his throat. "It is not just Alpha and Beta, there are other rankings. Pack Mother for instance, or Father, depending on the sex."

"What is that?" Romilly demanded, desperate for some sort of answer.

"It seems like what you have described." Deaton sucked his lips in as if he had eaten a lemon. "Pack Mother, in your case, is often the person who looks out for the pack. They watch over everyone, making sure that everything is going okay." He rubbed his hands together, "They are often looked up to, like the Alpha. But pack members turn to the Pack Mother because they are different. Alphas care for the survival of the pack, Pack Mothers care for the heart of the pack."

"So they are like…" she trailed off, "… mated to the Alpha? Like real wolves?"

"Not always," Deaton shook his head. "And you're not real wolves, there's a difference." He studied her, "I would say that you are exhibiting signs of a Pack Mother. _But_ there is no way of knowing. Inside you could just be lonely and the full moon reveals your true emotions as well as your werewolf form."

"Right," she nodded and slowly began wandering back to the Hale house.

Wandering through the woods, she walked rather aimlessly but the location was committed to memory so she did not lose herself. She waited to hear for any howls or any urge to find pack members. Instead she felt rather… _content,_ she had an answer to some extent and she would find out more about it further. For now she would only need that answer, so she was sure that when she had a real Alpha and pack she'd be able to understand if she was a Pack Mother or if it was her true feelings being shown by the full moon.

She stepped out of the trees and someone ran toward her, she ducked and spun out of her way. She could feel a growl emerging from her neck as her claws grew and her eyes flashed gold. But before she could make a swipe at them, their scent alerted her. _Derek_. She stopped shifted and blinked as her eyes adjusted, spotting him clearly in the darkness.

"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded his voice nearer to a wolf than she had ever heard.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "I went to get answers from the vet."

He took a deep breath, "Don't _leave_ without my permission. What if you had sought out the Alpha?"

"I'm not going to go looking for the thing that wants me dead!" She cried in outrage, placing her hands on her hips. "Look, Deaton gave me some answers. Either my loneliness on a full moon is triggered from my emotions of feeling lonely. I could also be a Pack Mother."

He stopped, "Ah." He nodded, "My sister was one, before she became the Alpha."

"I'm sorry," she replied.

"Don't be," Derek turned her back toward her. "But don't disobey my orders again Romilly, do you understand?" The dangerous edge to his voice sent shivers up her spine.

"Yes Derek," she had the urge to call him Alpha.

* * *

 **I can't tell you how sorry I am. I am a very terrible person for not updating in over two months. But I've had a lot going on, I've started university and I've just got a new job (yay!). You should know that I have chapter 25 written and I'm struggling to end chapter 26 because it's the whole kanima situation and I don't know what I'm doing.**

 **Also I've been working on my original works if you like this you can check my other stories out on Wattpad (cherrie_bomb) and Game of Thrones fanfiction. Will I ever publish my GOT fanfiction? Idk I have great ideas but it makes me unnecessarily anxious as I just don't want to disappoint anyone in the fandom.**

 **Also Pack Mother wtf was I thinking. Idk just go with it, don't roll your eyes. Sometimes I can be pretty original but I get certain bursts of "wow this terribly sounding thing would be great to add to my story". Idk don't hate me.**

 **Anyway I love you all (if you're still reading lmao) so thank you xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Inside her house Romilly paced.** Derek had left with Scott and Stiles, trying to trap the Alpha or something. They had told her to stay home and it left her _irritated_ , so much so that she was constantly shifting. Why had they _left_ her? She wasn't useless at all; she could fight as well as any of them could. But Derek seemed to be mad at her from when she had left on the full moon and he hadn't full forgiven her, this made her even a little antsy.

"Romilly," someone knocked on her door and she turned her head as her mum came in the room. "We're going out to dinner, are you ready yet?"

She nodded, looking down at herself. She wore a leather jacket, tight jeans and a shirt that tied up at the bust. It was marron which looked good with her skin colour. She had lined her eyes with eyeliner, flicking them out and had coloured her lips with a dark red wine colour. She headed out of her room, following her mum who was dressed in a similar fashion. They headed downstairs to where Allegra had pulled out her phone; she was playing some game as they walked into the garage.

"Can you please put that away for dinner Allegra?" Lincoln asked, exasperated with his daughter by this point.

"When we get there," she muttered as she stuck out her tongue in concentration.

Romilly shook her head as she put on her seatbelt, "So where are we going?"

"Out to dinner with the Argents," her mother told her and Romilly almost threw herself out of the now moving car. Were the Argents aware she was a werewolf, or were they ignorant? She was a little suspicious that they wanted to spend time with her family.

"Oh," she rubbed the denim that covered her thighs. "But where?"

They pulled up to a restaurant and Romilly stepped out, hanging back. Allison stood with her arms cross over her chest, hanging back from her parents. Chris and Victoria Argent immediately greeted her family. Secretly she grimaced when she looked away from them, but for the sake of her family she smiled. There was a chance that had no idea who or what she was, she hoped that was the case because if they tried to kill her she suspected it would cause a problem between their families.

"Should we go in then?" Victoria suddenly asked, standing tall and proud beside her husband. She studied Romilly as if she was a specimen under microscope before turning her head away.

"Yes," her mum stepped forward and they followed their parents inside.

"Hi," Allison waved and Romilly almost had the urge to glare at her. But she didn't, "My mum said I needed to make an effort with you guys."

"Hi," Allegra grinned as she pushed herself between the two of them. "Do you have a boyfriend yet?"

Allison's face seemed to constrict with pain, "Allegra." Romilly nudged her sister, "Don't be rude."

Allegra only poked her tongue out at her sister but followed the family inside. Allison headed in after her and Romilly after them both, looking behind her just in case she spotted something strange. But there was nothing, so she hurried to take a seat beside her sister at the long table. Her mum handed her a menu and she read through it, her eyes glancing up every now and again. She was on edge and she felt it was her right to be suspicious of the Argents. They were wolves in sheep's clothing, she wasn't about to let her guard down.

"So how are your studies Romilly?" She looked up at the question, Victoria sending her a pointed look.

"Good thank you," she answered nervously.

"Romilly is doing so well," her mum began to boast. "I was worried at first but it seems she does better than ever if she's teaching herself."

"That's good," Victoria smiled. "Allison still hasn't decided what she wants to do; we're hoping she does into the family business."

" _Mum,_ " Allison stressed in embarrassment. "Can we please not talk about this here?"

Chris leaned over to ruffle his daughter's head and she battered his hand away. They were a family and it was disarming, Romilly could let her guard down around these people. She eyed them over her glass of lemonade suspiciously, what if that was their aim? What if they wanted to let her feel comfortable only to lead her to her death in the end? She leaned back in her seat, studying each of them. She had to find their weaknesses, and she had to make sure none of them found out she was a werewolf.

"Fine," Victoria smiled. "How are your karate classes going Allegra?"

Allegra shone under the attention she was given, she immediately sat up. "Great!" She chirped and she became the centre of attention. She always had been the one the adults cooed over and often said _she's so cute_.

"Excuse me," Allison stood, "I need the bathroom."

Romilly watched her leave, would they attack her here? No, she didn't believe they had any idea she existed yet. So far it was only the Alpha and Derek they were aware of, she thought. Unless they found out about Scott. She paused, on her first full moon they could have found out about her. In annoyance and frustration, Romilly cursed under her breath.

"Excuse me," Lincoln hissed, "What was that Romilly?"

"Sorry Lincoln," her cheeks flushed, "I was lost in my thoughts."

Chris grinned, "What sort of thoughts were they to give you such a reaction?"

"Ah," she grimaced. "I remembered I had some study that I needed to finish but I haven't yet."

"And it can wait," her mum sent her a scowl. "We're having dinner Romilly, can you please respect that?"

"Of course I can mum," Romilly rolled her eyes. How could her mum think that she didn't care? "I'm here now aren't I? I didn't make an excuse to get out of it!"

"Be quiet Romilly," her mum hissed. Other customers had turned their heads to look at her, some of them with clear disapproval. Half of her was embarrassed, the other half of her wanted to lash out with her wolf and tell them to back off. But she kept her mouth shut and let her embarrassment show, her cheeks colouring a little. She'd be dead if she showed her wolf side, and her family would freak out.

Which one would kill her? She wondered dangerously, would it be Allison as a rite of passage? Or would it be one of her parents trying to protect their daughter? She shook her head, trying to stop those thoughts from coming into her head. Romilly accepted her meal and kept silent, only the adults but Allegra added in her input every now and then. The only answers from Allison or Romilly were grunts or one word answers. Neither girl was particularly interested in any of the conversations that were going on around them.

"Romilly," Allegra elbowed her violently. "Ow," Allegra frowned and Romilly looked down at her sister.

"What?" She looked at her parents who were staring at her expectantly.

"Victoria was talking to you," her mum narrowed her eyes.

"Oh…" she couldn't help but look away in embarrassment. Hopefully her _appearing_ to have terrible hearing would reaffirm that there was no possible way she could be a werewolf. "I'm sorry Mrs Argent."

"Don't be," the woman studied her carefully. "I only wanted to know what your relationship to this… Derek Hale is." Immediately all eyes turned to her and she stiffened, hopefully it went unnoticed by the eyes of the hunters.

"He's my friend," she answered, "Why?"

"The Argents believe he isn't the person you should be hanging around with," Lincoln clenched his hand around his knife and fork. "They told us he's irresponsible and not the best person for you to be friends with. Is that true Romilly?"

"Do you know Derek?" She suddenly retorted, feeling frustrated. "Whatever they'd heard is probably rumours. And I haven't seen him since those idiots accused him of being a _murderer_ a couple of weeks ago." There, hopefully the Argents would stop sniffing around her to get information on Derek because she wasn't going to give it to them.

Everyone seemed satisfied with the answer and Romilly went back to her meal. She finished slowly and felt her phone vibrate; she picked it up and read over her message. _Look outside,_ it was from Derek and vague enough to make her annoyed. But she was paranoid and turned her head, he was standing next to his car with Scott in the passenger seat. She immediately froze and looked back to the Argents, Allison was playing with her food in utter boredom – Romilly could relate.

"I need to go to the bathroom," she suddenly stood, "I'll be right back." She listened to the murmurs at the table faintly as she hurried out the door. "What are you doing here?" She hissed as she made her way toward the two of them, Scott had opened the car door and had wanted to step out.

"Why are you with the Argents?" Once again Derek was a master at demanding to have his own question answered rather than answering her question.

"Because my parents are friends with them," she shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and rolled her eyes. "So what are you doing here?"

"We need this," he shoved a note underneath her nose with a strange marking on it. "Scott says Allison has a necklace just like it. Get it for us."

"What?" She cried, "You get it!" She rolled her eyes, "And I can't just grab it off her, we're not even friends!"

Derek growled, "You're so useless."

"Hey!" She barked and shoved at him, "Don't talk to me like that!" In the passenger side of the car, Scott was a little shocked to hear someone talking to Derek like that. "And anyway, I need to go back before my parents get suspicious. And the Argents," she narrowed her eyes. "I'm not getting the necklace, Scott can." She nodded toward the high school boy who was peering at them from the passenger seat. She then turned on her heel and stormed inside the restaurant.

Romilly was going to be the death of him. He'd end up killing her, Derek could feel it. He clenched his hands into fists, she angered him so much. He turned to Scott, and glared at the young Beta only to walk around the car and slide into the front seat. Once he had dropped him off at the front of his house, Derek zoomed toward the Hale house. Perhaps he was punishing himself, living in the house his entire family had died in. But it was a reminder, why he was in Beacon Hills in the first place.

"So I managed to get rid of them," he turned as he heard a familiar voice behind him. Romilly had her hands shoved in her pockets, "So what happened tonight?"

"The Alpha got away again," he studied her. "How did you get away from your family and the Argents?"

"Easy," she shrugged her shoulders. "I told them I needed to go home because I wasn't feeling well. Mum understood but I swear Victoria Argent could make anyone drop dead with the glare she gives."

Derek didn't know who Victoria Argent was but if she was anything like Kate than he understand what she was talking about. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to know what happened," she glanced at him, "And why you wanted Allison's necklace. So how did the Alpha get away again?"

"He tried to attack one of the teachers at the school," Derek answered, pressing his mouth into a grim line. "But the Argents and the cops showed up. The Alpha got away; we couldn't get to him this time."

"Next time we'll destroy him," she said with conviction.

"Right," Derek muttered under his breath and studied her under shrewd eyes. "Will you be going home?"

"I'll have to soon," she answered. "Mum will come to check on me or something. And they think we haven't had any contact." She crossed her arms over her chest, "Speaking of. When did you decide to suddenly forgive Stiles and Scott? Because may I remind you-"

"I got it," Derek growled, interrupting her. "But we need to destroy the Alpha and I need Scott's help. We can't do it alone Romilly, you barely even know how to fight."

"So teach me," she demanded. She was so comfortable with Derek now, why couldn't he train her? "I need to know this just in case the Alpha tries to get me when I'm on my own. I don't want to be the weak link that relies on the males to save her all the time." She rolled her eyes, "I'm just as strong as the both of you, so why can't I learn?"

"Fine," Derek studied her clothing. "But you don't want to learn to fight in that."

"Why not?" She asked as she looked down at her clothes, "What's the chance that I'm cornered _when_ I'm dressed like this? Because the Alpha is not going to wait for me to go home and change first."

"They'll be ruined," he warned her.

Closing her eyes briefly, Romilly took in a deep breath. "So be it," when she opened her eyes they were gold. "They're just clothes Derek, they can be replaced but my life can't. And I am not prepared to die by a power hungry psycho. Okay?"

"Okay," he answered. "Now attack me."

For well into the night, Romilly would have some explaining to do if her mum had gone into her room, they trained. Romilly was thrown into the house, on her arse and into trees multiple times. The only time she ever got Derek was when he was distracted by a noise; she had pounced on his back and bit his ear almost playfully. He'd been so shocked by the sensation that he had thrown her over his back and slammed her on her own back, knocking the wind out of her. She had been so shocked she wheezed, gasping as she gazed up at him.

"What was that?" She asked as she pushed herself onto her feet.

"Don't do that," he ordered and she rolled her eyes.

By dawn, Romilly was tired and she was weakly swiping at Derek. He eventually decided to let her go home, but when he had turned around she had fallen to the ground and passed out. He'd taken her into his arms and laid her on his mattress inside the house again, looking over the trees just in case the Alpha or any hunters came out of the forest. He heard a groan and turned his head, Romilly was sprawled out across the bed like she owned it. Werewolves were very territorial; Derek wanted her removed from his bed immediately.

In the morning, Romilly pushed herself up to her feet and looked over at Derek. He was standing by the window, watching the sun rise over the treetops. "Damn it," she groaned and rubbed her face. Derek turned to face her, "My mum is going to kill me. They're going to want to know where I've been." Pulling her phone off the side of the mattress, she glanced at it. "See, I told you they'd be freaking out."

Shaking her head, Romilly stood up. "Are you leaving?" He asked as he watched her.

"Yes," she answered, "I have to." Pushing her hair out of her face, "I'm going to be slaughtered but I've got to go."

"I will drive you," Derek grabbed his keys and they headed toward his car.

The drive was silent and Derek watched as she climbed out of his car, waving and hurrying toward her house. He heard the shouts and Romilly attempting to calm her family, he shook his head and sped off. Inside the house, Romilly watched as his car disappeared hoping her mum wouldn't step outside and demand to know who had dropped her off. Romilly just sat and took her punishment, letting her mum scream even though her ears were ringing and she didn't really catch up to what her mum was saying.

"You've turned into an idiot since we came here," Allegra spoke up after her mum had decided to storm toward her bedroom. "Dad wants to tell you off too but he was called into work."

"Well," Romilly shrugged. "I've changed, you understand that right?"

"Of course I do," Allegra rolled her eyes. "You're not the sister I used to have; she was too shy and didn't go out much. What changed?"

Romilly didn't really know what to say, she couldn't admit to being a werewolf so she kept her mouth shut. But she didn't understand how her personality had changed, but it had changed. However, she wasn't about to question it. Instead she sat on the couch and when her mum came out of her room, she was ignored. Her mum was angry and probably embarrassed since she had left the restaurant telling them she was sick. But she didn't want to be around the Argents, yet her mum would never understand since she didn't know.

"Allison told me I can learn martial arts off her," Allegra suddenly spoke up and Romilly whipped around to face her sister. "Apparently she's really good at it, mum's gonna pay her for it."

"Cool," Romilly winced, what if the Argents tried to make her younger sister into a hunter? No, Allegra was only thirteen; she was way too young for that sort of thing. She'd have to ask Derek about how old Hunters usually were when they killed the first time.

"I know," Allegra grinned and clapped her hands together. "I'm going tomorrow, can you drop me off?"


End file.
